Equal Partners
by sydney563
Summary: The sequel to Partners, takes place 8 months after the end of the first story. Bo and Lauren are working together in a new unit, they are also dealing with their new relationship, and what comes next for them as they are now different people from what happened in the first story as well as the distance forced upon them. This will have some M rated moments and some heavy crime
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bo and Lauren, they belong to the lovely creators of Lost Girl, I just borrow them. All original characters, mistakes and storylines these girls indulge in, that is mine. **

**This is the first chapter of the sequel, this story will be slower to update, I have created a complex storyline in my little head and it will take time to navigate it properly, at least to my satisfaction. so bear with me as this one will be slow to update. I also have to finish the other stories...Bo is a little different in this story since she no longer has to pretend to be a bumbling rookie, lauren will be a little different since she is dealing with the aftermath of everything and how to come to terms with it and the new bo in her life. That's that...ENJOY!**

* * *

My least favorite part of summers in Chicago was the beach goers'. They would swarm around the lake on the weekends and crowd my front window with unpleasant scenery of ill fitting Speedos and large one piece suits that were better left to cover tables than cover humans.

It was late august and I stood in front of my window with a cup of coffee staring out at the early Sunday beach crowd. I had already begun to count down the days until summer was over and I could have my lake back. I sighed hard and pulled the curtains closed. I walked past my coffee table and went into the kitchen to refill my cup. Closing the fridge door I stared at the news clipping I had plastered all over the fridge door, headlines from the incident at the convention and the intense media coverage that followed.

The news truly thought it was the one true highlight of my career. There were pictures of me holding the commendation I received from the Superintendent for bringing down Ethan and Sara. The picture showed me holding the certificate and staring out into the crowd. The commendation ceremony had been a publicity ploy that worked in my advantage. I was moved to the training unit for a little longer, no longer having to deal first hand with all of the murders Chicago could throw my way, I would just sign off on reports and approve overtime.

I was given a newer corner office that faced the opposite end of the lake I had stared at for years from my original office, My name and rank, Captain Lauren Lewis was painted gold lettering on the simple glass door that offered little to no privacy.

It had been almost eight months since the Latin murders and all that came with it. I went back to work a month after I came home from D.C. and was still working through everything that happened. I would often fall into long gaps of silence as I sat in my office staring at the piles of cases files sitting in front of me. Thinking of everything and nothing. The only person that I would tolerate to sit in my office with was Alex and there were even days he would sit in silence and eat whatever junk food he had grabbed on the way in.

The worst had come when national magazines had picked up the story about Evan Carpenter, they came pounding on my door to interview me, harass me, get the gossip on my lesbian lover who was a double agent for the FBI. I was followed everywhere by the press, the most memorable incident was when I was inside of a meeting with the Superintendent and a reporter managed to get into the conference room asking me graphic details of what happened of the roof after I shot Sara. I sat with my head down, clenching my jaw until he was pulled away by some uniformed officers. After that, the superintendent realized the gravity of the situation, he had me release a statement and hold a press conference to fill the needs of the reporters. I gave stoic and bland answers whenever Bo was brought up, I had not seen her for months after it was revealed she would be working in the new unit the FBI had pulled me into, but it had yet to get off the ground. We would share phone calls or texts here and there, but had yet to see each other for about six months. The FBI was keeping her on a short leash since they were not as keen on media coverage like a Police superintendent who was looking to move into a bigger political office. After the press conference, the media became bored with me and my constant no comment answers, I was finally left to work peacefully in the training unit.

I eventually started to enjoy being a teacher. Other than that little had changed, Alex continued to hangout in my office like he used to, fill me in on the usual gossip and who was jacking up what case. In time I stopped thinking about what happened every minute of the day, even thought I still had nightmares that rocked me from my sleep.

My private life was settling down, the reporters started to dwindle away, the calls asking me gruesome details were less and less each day, I was beginning to see the end and the beginning of a quiet life.

I reached up and flicked a spot off the laminated news clipping and smiled at it. I walked back into my living room and sat down at the coffee table. It was covered in files and paperwork I had brought home to get caught up on. I had four new recruit files I had to review before they went to their final FTO decisions if they could be cut loose on their own or held back. I also glanced at one of Alex's case files he left around the house. I sat on my couch and picked up his case file, I missed the murder cases and was curious what he was working on.

I opened the first file, it was a bakery murder. A baker found out his wife had been cheating on him, lured his wife and her boyfriend to the bakery he worked at. There, he shot and killed both of them, and then dumped their bodies into the giant bread mixer and made twelve loaves of bread out of their remains. Alex had been lead on the case, I now understood why he would not touch the bread in the house, I thought he was going low carb.

I smiled as Alex had ensured that all officers and detectives involved followed procedure, the defense attorney was already claiming mental instability, Alex wanted to push for murder one. Alex had written in his report that while interviewing the suspect he was calm and only kept saying, "My wife never liked my bread….she always thought it was a little too yeasty."

As I sat reading through the first responders report I heard my doorbell ring. I figured it was Alex with his handfuls of doughnuts and beer, too lazy to use his own key. It was Sunday, and on Sundays Alex and I would sit all day and watch whatever Chicago team was on or sit and watch the beach goer's and count how many middle aged men wearing speedos walked past us.

I set the file down on the table and got up to answer the door. I opened the door and walked away so Alex could follow me in, "it is okay to leave some stuff in the car so you have hands free to unlock the door, Alex."

"That would require multiple trips, and you know I am far too lazy to even wash my gym clothes, let alone make two trips to the curb and back." Alex kicked the door close as I took the box of doughnuts, "I am going to take a shower, keep tally of the speedos walking by. I am trying to get a summer total, I think this year was bigger than last year."

Alex smiled as he put the beer in the fridge, "Aye, Aye, Captain."

I slugged him in the shoulder, "Shut up and find some more speedos, and try not to eat all the doughnuts?"

He shrugged at me, "I cant make a promise like that, they gave us extra Boston cream ones."

I gave him a look of disgust, "I hate Boston cream."

"More for me! Hurry and get cleaned up, I want to go out later for hot dogs and beer, your treat." He winked at me and turned back to his mission of searching out the worst beach outfit.

I left Alex in the living room and went upstairs to shower. After my shower I stood in the mirror like I always had before to look at the visual history of my darkest moments. Most of my body was covered in scars and every time I looked at one it was a reminder of where I had been and how lucky I was to be alive. It was part of my therapy to look at myself and reaffirm that each day was a good day regardless of what the past told me.

I dried my hair and sat at my desk, checking my email I read over the one from my father. He was having a hard time dealing with Sara and what had happened and her connection to Ethan. It hit him harder than either of us expected, she was someone he trusted and almost killed his only daughter. My father had been pulled in by the FBI shortly after I was to review what he knew about Sara and the case he had saved her life on. The FBI was so determined to tie up all of the loose ends with their rogue agent, that they would pull in agents that might have thought about Sara.

I tried talking to him right after it all, but he was like me, closed up when things hit too close to home. He had only started to email me over the last week as he was on the Alaskan cruise my mother surprised him with. He seemed to open up and started talking, he was closer to Sara than I thought, he was her mentor and not once did he ever suspect her of anything. This email I was glossing over, was my father asking about what happened in the interviews and on the rooftop, he had never once asked about it, until now. It was like he wanted to hear the last pieces of the puzzle to put his thoughts at ease. I started typing a reply to him when I heard Alex come up the stairs.

He pushed the door, open, "Yo, Lauren, I forgot to ask you, can you help me with that creepy bakery murder? I am stuck on the report and I could use your ancient wisdom." he smiled and winked at me. "I will buy the pizza."

I clicked save on the email and looked at him, "I thought we were doing hot dogs and beers."

he shook his head, "After all the speedos I just saw walk by the window, the last thing I want to look at is a hot dog." Alex winked at me, "I will place the order."

I laughed lightly, hanging up my towel in the bathroom I pulled on a old Detroit Red Wings shirt and headed towards the stairs. I caught a glimpse of a picture of Bo and I sitting on the far bookshelf, I picked it up and smiled at it. We had shared a quick phone call last week, she had plans to fly back to Chicago by the end of the month, having finally tied up the last few ends of the new unit. I had missed her terribly, but the distance between the two of us was good. I needed to calm down and sort out the tangled thoughts in my head, and I didn't want to take out my traditional short temper out on her. I also knew that when she came back to Chicago, it would be completely new for the both of us, we would have to start over as the Captain and the Federal Agent. I set the picture back down and ran down the stairs as I heard Alex yelling about what I wanted on the pizza.

* * *

Walking to the courthouse to assist Alex with tying up the last few bits of the bakery murder I thought about if I could detach myself from cases like I had been able too in the past. I had always succeeded in doing it from day one on the job, but that all changed when I became a part of the case, I became a victim and now I found it incredibly hard to look from the blue line. Be the investigator. I would sympathize more than I used too and see myself in almost all of the victims I had to speak for. Being a Captain saved me from that. all I had to do was read reports, go to court once in a while and authenticate that all chains of command and evidence were followed properly and occasionally serve as an expert witness. I was just delivering facts that others found. I was detached from it all. I had grown to like it that way.

The bakery murder took a little longer than I had predicted, at the last moment the defense attorney removed their insanity plea and went with a plea of guilty. Seems the bakery had hidden cameras throughout the building to monitor its pest problems. The defendant was caught on tape dumping the remains of his wife and her boyfriend into the giant mixer. the evidence was concrete against him so they redirected into bargaining his sentence. Alex and I still had to sit through and wait in case any of the evidence out side of the tapes were questioned.

We ran out of the court house close to two in the afternoon, I was starving. I stared out at the bright sun, feeling Alex stand next to me, "I want a big, huge cheeseburger and a ice cold beer." I looked at him as I raised my eyebrow, "As the senior ranking officer here, I call it a half day. We are off the clock."

Alex grinned, "Can't argue with a Captain." he placed a firm hand on my back, "Oh and look, it's our favorite pub, just right across the street."

I held out my hand, motioning for him to lead the way.

Alex and I took to a booth in the back, I had stripped off my uniform jacket, setting it on top of my briefcase I frowned, "The beer may have to wait, I always feel weird drinking in this monkey suit."

Alex shrugged, "Sucks to be the higher paid." he waved at the waitress to come over, "I will have one in your honor, Lauren." he handed me a menu, I eagerly scanned over the choices. Alex ordered a beer and a iced tea for me, tossing the menu to the side he leaned back in the chair, "You hear from your Special Agent lately?"

I shook my head as I set the menu down, "Just a phone call last week, she will be back in town in a week."

Alex nodded as his ice cold beer was set in front of him, I took my iced tea and tried to pretend it was a beer, "Can I ask you a question?"

I nodded as the waitress took our order quickly. Alex sipped his beer, "Why didn't you two try and meet up? Have rendezvous? Or anything? I thought you two liked each other?"

I leaned back in the chair, "Too much media pressure, too much internal pressure and too be honest my head was a mess and after everything, I welcomed the step back. I think Bo needed it as well, we were thrown together in a huge mess." I sighed and looked out the window at the slight traffic passing us by, "It does not mean that I don't miss her or think about her every second."

Alex smiled wide and winked at me, "That's what I was looking for, and I get it Lauren. I just want to see you happy, and that federal agent made you happy, still makes you happy." he stood up, "I gotta hit the head, don't steal any of my fries if the food comes before I get back."

I laughed and nodded, I watched Alex trot off, slightly stopping to talk and flirt with the waitress. I leaned on a elbow and stared out the window, thinking about Bo and that I was still very much in love with her.

I was mesmerized by the ebb and flow of the traffic that I did not look at Alex as he sat back down, I kept my gaze out of the window, "Before you ask, I didn't not steal a sip of beer."

"You still feel weird about drinking in uniform out in public, don't you." her voice was soft and made me close my eyes. I took a deep breath as I turned to look at Bo. She was smiling, picking up Alex's beer and taking a large sip. She was dressed in a plain black V-neck shirt and jeans. I knew I was staring, but it had been so long, far too long since I had seen her in person that I felt like I had forgot her. Her hair was up in a loose ponytail and she looked radiant in her simple makeup.

I looked down at my ice tea, feeling incredibly nervous, "When did you get in?"

Bo looked at her watch, "About an hour ago, I went to the old station to find you. The desk Sergeant told me you were at the courthouse with Alex, that his case had been pushed to a plea." she reached for my hand, our fingers still fit perfectly together, "I was about to go back to the hotel until I looked across the street and saw this amazing looking blonde woman staring out the window."

Our eyes met as she smiled, Bo stood up and sat in the chair next to me. She grabbed my hand again as it sat on my leg, whispering, "I missed you." I said nothing, only leaning forward closer to her, my hand going to her cheek, pulling her into a kiss. I did not care who saw us, I only cared that Bo was in front of me and I could finally kiss her. I felt her hand slid out of mine and grip my upper thigh, making my gasp lightly, breaking off the kiss.

I heard Alex clear his throat, "Would you two like a room or a drink?"

Bo smiled against my mouth and laughed as I blushed, she turned to look at Alex, "Both." she hopped out of her chair and into his open arms. Alex picked her up, "Good to have you home Bo."

He set her down as I took a sip of my ice tea, hoping to chase away the flush that I knew covered my face. He motioned at the waitress to bring Bo a beer, as she again took her seat next to me. "We were just talking about you, Bo." he winked at me.

She brushed a hand over my leg, "Oh really?"

Alex nodded as he drained the rest of the beer and eagerly grabbed the new one as the waitress brought fresh beers for Bo and him, as well as our food, "Yep, that you are the only one who can turn the Captain's frown upside down."

I even laughed lightly at his dumb joke, reaching for the ketchup Bo stole a fry, "Good thing I am back in town for a while." she looked at me, "I hate to break up lunch with shop talk, but the unit is all set up. We will be working out of the federal building downtown, in the basement." she shrugged, "But it's all set and I have been indefinitely reassigned to Chicago." she met my eyes and I could see that she was just a nervous as I was about reconnecting.

I sighed as I fiddled with the ketchup bottle, "When do we start?" I was eager to get back into something, especially after helping Alex with a few of his cases, I wanted to break up the monotony and try to break the small fears I had about diving into case work again.

Bo sipped her beer, "Monday. I have to get settled back into town, and the first case is being sent over by courier from D.C."

Alex took a massive bite of his burger, and through a mouthful, "We are you staying at?"

Bo shook her head at him, "You will never change Alex." she handed him a napkin, "The bureau has me at a extended stay hotel, then maybe an apartment after I get tired of hotel living." Alex was distracted by the waitress checking on how our food was, I took the small opportunity and looked at her as I cut my burger, "Stay with me."

"Lauren, I will be fine at the hotel." she spun her beer glass around, I saw how nervous she was. I was nervous and hesitant about everything in the time she was gone and what I would do when she was finally sitting next to me. Now she was, and I didn't want her anywhere else but next to me.

I set the knife down, "We did live together once, and as I remember it, it was far better than any hotel." I looked in her eyes, still seeing the hesitant. "I will give you the spare key and you can decide on your own time."

Alex turned back to us, breaking the slow tension the was building with one of his ridiculous jokes. The rest of the lunch was spent listening to Alex talk about some of his strangest cases. I found myself staring at Bo here and there.

At the end of the lunch, Alex looked at his watch, "Shit, I have to meet the boys in a half hour for drinks before the game." he looked at me, saluting, "Thanks for the help and lunch, Captain. See you at home." he grabbed Bo in a huge hug, "As always, love to see your beautiful face, Agent." Alex ran off in the opposite direction.

I pulled on my uniform jacket and buttoned it back up, I looked at Bo, "Can I give you a ride anywhere? I have the fancy company car today." I tried to lighten the air around us. Bo pulled her sunglasses down, "If you want, back at my hotel I have the preliminary case files from the first case we have, I mean you officially don't start in the new unit until Monday, but I know you like to look at things as soon as they come in."

I stared at her, hating that her sunglasses were blocking my view of her brown eyes and hiding whatever emotions that were floating in them. "Can you grab them and then we go back to the house? I really want to get out of this uniform." I dug around for my keys, "Please tell me that the dress code for this new unit is a little less formal."

Bo smiled her wide smile that I had missed, "A little, you will have to go back to those terribly, perfectly tailored, detective suits you used to wear." I could detect a gentle attempt at flirting. I was mildly amazed at how tentative we both were. Where were we once we so quick to fall into each others arms, it now felt slow and painfully cautious, even more on her side.

I frowned, "At least its better than this thing." I pulled at the edge of my dress jacket. I motioned to the back of the building the pub was in, "I am parked back there." I took a few steps and let Bo catch up too me. There was a strange silence between us, it was if we both were struggling with what to say versus just attacking each other and ripping clothes off in the middle of the street. I swallowed hard and unlocked the car, throwing my briefcase into the backseat, I slid into the drivers seat.

The in car conversation was minimal, just Bo giving directions to her hotel. I waited for her as she ran up to her room and ran back out to the car with her massive bag and briefcase, tossing them into the backseat as I pulled away. When we got back to the house, I pushed the door open, holding it for her and smiling at the memories of her and in the house. I set my own briefcase down next to the side table and began pulling of my jacket, "You know the house, Bo. I am going to run upstairs and change, then we can look at the files."

Bo smiled as she set her bags and briefcase down on the table, "Thanks, Alex still keep his good beer in the back of the fridge?"

I nodded and smiled, "Yes he certainly does." I watched her as she walked into the kitchen like she had never left the house, that we had never parted for six months. It reminded me of when we lived together, when she was just Bo, the pain in the ass partner I had fallen for. I ran upstairs, pulling off my uniform, grabbing a pair of old jeans and a t-shirt I ran back downstairs. I paused in the middle of the staircase, watching Bo. She was still the same woman I had fallen in love with, I had realized that the moment she sat next to me at the pub. She might be a federal agent now, but everything I felt for her was the same, it was just the lingering distance and emotions of what we had been through that was making things gently awkward, fearful.

I sat down next to her on the couch, Bo smiled as she also handed me a cold beer, "I will buy him a replacement pack, you look like you could use a drink, Lauren."

I shrugged, "He won't care, considering he eats more of the groceries than he pays for." Bo laughed and sipped from her beer. She swallowed and pointed at the file she had just handed me, "This is what I was given so far, more should be coming on Monday as it is dug out of the archives."

The file itself was aged and yellowed, it was obvious it had sat at the bottom of a filing cabinet untouched. I opened it up and saw the case date was from 1983, almost thirty years ago. It made me smile to see all of the reports hand written and carefully filled out with a typewriter. I missed that about police work, the attention to detail that was necessary when you were hand writing the whole report. I continued reading, the case was a basic sexual assault/murder of a seventeen year old girl on a school trip. Angela Heaten was on a senior class trip from a small town on the edge of Cedar Rapids. She was separated from her class while walking down the national mall, and was reported missing later on that day by one of the chaperones.

The police searched and interviewed her classmates but nothing came of it. They continued to search for two days until a park ranger sweeping out the Lincoln memorial early in the morning found Angela's body tucked up and in behind Lincoln. The coroners report showed she had been sexually assaulted and beaten. Unfortunately back then DNA was still a pipe dream forensic tool. They collected swabs, skin samples, fingernail clippings and fibers off her body. Nothing ever came of the evidence taken, or at the least, documented in the report. There were no witnesses, no suspects. It was an random act of violence that went unsolved. I finished reading through the file and was confused; I was not quite sure why for the first case for a BSU cold case unit would be a murder with no clues, no substantial evidence, no suspects, and no witnesses. I closed the file and tossed it on the coffee table.

"Okay. I am a little confused, why this case? It seems pretty clear that that it was random." I looked at Bo, she was sifting through the files that laid open in front of her, "Read through it again, Lauren."

I raised an eyebrow, "I read through it all. Cover to cover, there is very little to nothing there."

Bo turned and looked at me, "okay, then tell me why in the Sergeants notes, that he wrote that it was a pretty clear case of random brutality and that he stopped all further testing of trace evidence. Even when the FBI expressed interest in using the DNA samples collected as a possible test for the new DNA identification process they had been working on? If it was just a random act with nothing to go on why not let the FBI use it as a possible experiment?"

It took me a moment to say anything, this Bo that was sitting next to me was the Special Agent Ysabeau, she no longer needed to keep a lid on her true talents as an investigator. I smiled as her clear and concise words reminded me of when I was trying to teach her a lesson when she was my rookie.

I flipped open the aged file again, "I can see his point, DNA testing back then was like introducing electric light to the candle burners of the world, it didn't make sense and seemed like a hokey form of police work. I don't see anything wrong with his decision, it would have just dragged the family through endless amounts of pain in waiting for the results if any. Then trying to pinpoint a suspect without the aid of a massive DNA database like we have now? It would have been a waste of manpower and time."

Bo stared at me with a slight smile as I ranted, I could see the same admiration in her eyes as I was obvious nay saying her selection. When I finished she sat for a moment in silence. "Are you done? Lauren?"

I shrugged lightly, as Bo picked up another file, handing it too me. "Good. Because you need to look deeper, read between the lines. The Sergeant is hiding something. This case landed back on the top after thirty years by the request of Angela's parents. They heard that the FBI had opened a new unit for cases like this, they had the file pulled from storage and requested that it be reopened. Seems they were talked out of cooperating with the FBI back in the first few days of the case, told it would be a waste of time and manpower. My gut feeling is that the Sergeant swept this particular case under the rug." She reached over and tossed me another file onto my lap.

I opened it up and saw that it was the Sergeant we were discussing, personnel file. Sergeant Anthony Bellico of the D.C. Metro police department was the lead officer on the Heaten case. I read through his file, he was a heavily decorated police officer which lead him to becoming a Sergeant early in his career. He had a high success rate and very few blemishes in his file. The only large black mark was the one unsolved on his record, it was the Heaten case. The Heaten case was the only thing that hung over Bellico until he retired five years ago from the force.

I closed the file and set it ontop of the last one, "I do have to admit, that is a little suspicious that he has an almost perfect record. I do find it unusual for a man who has saved old ladies and taken kittens out of trees, would walk away from this particular case without putting forth that heroic effort that fills his file."

Bo leaned back on the couch, tucking a leg under her, "Exactly. The psychology behind why he didn't put in the effort is going to lead us to some answers." She smiled at me lightly.

I let it sink in for a moment before closing the files and looking at Bo, "Where should we begin with this one then?" I leaned back in the couch cushions.

Bo set her own files down on the table, "That's where I look to you, Lauren. I am not a, nor ever was a typical detective, I am a little lost as where to start with something like this." She smiled at me wide, "Even though I had a really great FTO in the detective unit, I am still new to this."

I smirked at her, "We need to go back and look at the evidence, which I am hoping is still in existence with the D.C. Metro PD." I looked at her with questioning eyes, my rank and pull would only get me what I wanted in Chicago, I looked at the beautiful Federal Agent sitting across from me. Bo nodded and reached into her bag for her phone, "I will make a call." She stood up and walked into the kitchen to make her call. I didn't bother to try and eavesdrop, I turned my attention to the massive pile of old case files, there was definitely something strange with this case, there were large holes that were poorly covered up. It was intriguing to me.

I heard Bo hang up the phone and I quickly turned my attention back as she sat next to me on the couch, closer this time. "D.C. Metro does still have all evidence collected from the Heaten case. It is in their storage warehouse on the Maryland side of the Potomac. I just have to get the go ahead to get it in our custody and we are good to go." Her tone was very authoritative, one I had never really heard from Bo. It made me even more intrigue about the woman sitting next to me.

I crossed my arms, leaning my head back as I looked at Bo, "Alright, how long will that take?" I was concerned that the small details were not taken care of already. Especially this case was handed to Bo as our starter case, the remaining evidence should have been pulled and sent with the case files on my coffee table. Experienced cop or not anyone who watched enough CSI would know that's where you start. Bo dropped her phone back in her bag, "A day or two at the most, I guess they have to physically dig out the boxes, Why?"

I sighed, "I hate waiting for information." I smiled at her, "Rule number fifteen..." I shook my head at my own list of random rules of investigation and how they never really were in order, just came out when they were needed. Bo smiled and looked at her hands in her lap, "Wait for no one, especially when it comes to critical information." Bo met my eyes, her smile turning serious for a moment, "Lauren, what happens next."

I let out a breath, "We review the evidence and whatever tests that were done, and go from there. I will want to re-interview officers and witnesses." I was staring at my ceiling, my mind trying to lay out all of the puzzle pieces I would need.

I felt her hand tangle into mine, "I meant, with us." I rolled my head to the side, looking in her brown eyes.

MORE TO COME - A little slower than the other updates...so please be patient.


	2. Chapter 2

**Longer updates in longer time periods, I want to make this one good, so bear with me! Enjoy!**

I squeezed her hand in mine, picking our hands up, looking at her hand in mine. "I don't know, Bo. Do we have to plan it out? Or can we just take this one day at a time? I think we both are on a blank slate with each other. The only thing I know for sure is what I still feel for you." I took a breath, setting our hands back down on the couch. "The relationship we did have, I don't want again. It was one built on lies and fear." I looked in her brown eyes, keeping my tone soft, "I want to start over with you, Ysabeau McCorrigan. Like I said months ago, I know its going to take time and I am still working through everything." I paused, I was at a temporary loss of words.

Bo pulled our hands, pulling me closer to her. "Lauren, I know. I want to start over, and I know it will take time because this is new for me. It didn't help that the FBI kept me away from you for so long. It has made things feel awkward and new." she reached up, her hand pushing the hair out of my face, "From this moment on, you will get Ysbeau and only Ysabeau." she held her hand against my cheek. I looked in her eyes and smiled tightly. The time forced between us had created a tentative situation between us.

Bo leaned forward, removing the small space between us. I let out a slow breath as my mouth opened slightly, I dropped my eyes to her lips. Just as we were about to connect, Alex barged into the front door, barely sober.

He smiled wide when he saw Bo and I sitting on the couch. He threw his hands up in the air, "Ladies! I am home!" he walked over to us and pushed himself between us, throwing an arm around each of us. He leaned his head back against the couch, "I am so excited to have the old team back together." he rolled his head to the side to look at Bo, "You know, Lauren here buys better groceries when you are around?"

Bo smiled, "No, I had no idea."

Alex winked at her, "It's a true story, she buys the better meat, the better cheese and the expensive potato chips." he leaned over and laid a sloppy kiss on her cheek, "I thank you for your return, I have missed the fancy kettle cooked chips." he rolled his head over my direction, "Captain, I am going to take a quick nap, when I wake up, the three of us are going to head to the grocery store." Alex wiggled himself free and wobbled, he held his hands out to steady himself. He then stumbled towards the basement door and stumbled down them. Bo laughed lightly as she stood up, "It's not even five in the afternoon."

I sighed, "He does that sometimes." I looked at her, "I should probably go grocery shopping without him, when he tags along its like I have a eight year old with me. He just wants doughnuts and chips."

Bo collected her files, stuffing them into her briefcase. I stood up and helped her, "I can give you a ride to the hotel, or you can come with me to the grocery store."

Bo shook her head, "I have a few more calls to make, try to expedite the rest of these files." she finished stuffing her briefcase, "I will grab a cab." she smiled at me. I nodded, and followed her to the front door. As she opened it I placed my hand on her elbow, "Hang on a second." I ran to the kitchen and dug out the extra set of keys Alex had given Bo months ago. I jogged back to her and handed them to her. "You are more than welcome to stay here when you feel like it, these were your set anyways." I smiled at the small Chicago Bears keychain Alex had linked on there.

Bo held the keys in her palm, "Thanks." the air was thick again. I sighed, "Bo, come back tonight for dinner? Please?"

She looked in my eyes, smiling, "I will do my best to finish the rest of this up." she tucked the keys into her pocket. I smiled back, "Dinner is usually around seven and it's Alex's night to cook. So it will probably be his nine alarm chili and cornbread."

Bo laughed, and as if no time passed between us, she leaned forward and kissed me gently on the cheek, "I will definitely hurry things up." she kept her smile, turned and walked out the door.

* * *

I went grocery shopping, Alex made dinner when he finally woke up from his three hour nap. I did not really expect Bo to show up. I could feel how weird things were between us, regardless of how disparate we both were to climb over the small walls that had built up between us.

I left Alex to clean up his mess and went upstairs to my room to finish the email to my father. When it was sent I changed into my pajamas and busied myself with organizing my uniforms. I had stuffed my old patrol blues in the back, followed my old detective suits. I pushed my Captain's uniform aside to move the suits up, I was excited to be getting out of the stiff and formal uniform for a little while. But when I pushed through the untouched suits, the strange memories of my time as a detective came back. I cringed a little and eventually gave up. Closing the closet door I opted to read a book and wait for the impending heartburn from Alex's chili to arrive. I glanced at the bedside clock, it was a quarter to midnight . I only had the next day off before I started working with Bo. I crawled into bed with my book, a silly fluff fiction that I had picked up a few days ago while waiting for my tea to be made at the bookstore.

I leaned back into the pillows, putting on my glasses, when I heard the front door open and close. I paid little attention to it, I figured Alex was heading out for tums or more beer. I flipped open the book to chapter one and tried to focus on the first few sentences when I heard a soft knock on my door.

"Alex, you don't always have to knock, its not like I am up here with a girl or anything." I pushed up my glasses, rereading the sentence the knock interrupted.

The door opened, "I am grateful to hear that there are no girls up here with you, I might get a little jealous."

I turned to look at Bo, smiling in the doorway. "Sorry I missed dinner, I got tied up on calls and chasing paper."

"Be glad you missed the chili, it was pretty intense this time." I set my book down. "I am sure there is some leftovers if you are interested."

Bo shook her head and walked into the room, sitting on the edge of the bed she looked over her shoulder at me, "I can't sleep at the hotel, the suite feels like a dorm room." I reached out and placed my hand on her upper arm, Bo covered my hand with hers."

I smiled at her, "You are more than welcome to stay here, I can take the couch." I pushed the book off to the side and went to drop my hand from her arm so I could get up. Bo held onto my hand, "Or we could share the bed." Bo pressed against my hand, "Just sleep, Lauren. That's all."

I cleared my throat, it was apparent the way she was looking at me that the expression on my face betrayed me and the slight nervous panic that came over me. I nodded, "I know." I gently pulled my hand from her grasp, rolled to sit next to her, "It's not like we haven't shared a bed before...for sleeping purposes." I stood up, this was painful, I was painful to listen too. I set the book on my bedside table and went to the closet for the extra pillows, talking to Bo over my shoulder, "Do you need something to sleep in."

Bo shook her head as she picked up her bag, "I am covered." she stood up and looked at me as I turned around, arm full of pillows. "Bathroom still over there?" she smiled wide, the dimple that sometimes infiltrated my dreams showing. I couldn't help but smile, "Still there."

Bo headed to the bathroom while I laid out the pillows on the bed. I pulled down the blankets and headed back over to my side. I could hear Alex rummaging around in the kitchen, then walk up stairs like he did every night before he went to bed. He tapped on the doorframe, "Yo Lauren, you good?"

I smiled and nodded, it was an endearing routine he had picked up from the moment I came home from the conference, there would be nights he would find me crying in bed and he would sit with me, other nights he would find me staring at the wall and he would make me watch a crappy movie with him until I passed out. Over the months I got better, but he continued to check on me. "I am good, Alex thanks."

He saluted me, "Copy, doughnuts in the morning." Alex turned to leave when he heard the bathroom door open, he shot me a cautious look and I held up my hand. Bo walked out and she smiled at Alex, "Hey you. Sorry I missed the chili. I heard it was one of your best?"

Alex could not contain the massive grin that split across his face, he winked at me, "No worries Bo, there is plenty left and you can have some for breakfast if you want."

"I think I will stick to coffee, thank you though." Bo dropped her clothes on top of her bag. She was wearing an old FBI academy shirt and thin, cotton pants. Alex blinked and saluted us both, "I will see you both in the morning." he tapped on the door frame and ran back downstairs, closing the bedroom door behind him.

Bo crawled into the bed, rolling onto her side. I slid into the bed, laying on my back. I reached to turn off the light, settling into the pillows I was about to say something to Bo when I felt her move closer to me, her arms sliding across my stomach and pulling me close, like she always did when we went to sleep. I let out a soft sigh and placed my hand on top of her arm, I had an idea what she was doing. Trying to reinstate our old routine to chase away the nerves. It was working as felt her sigh, her breathing slowing down into a gentle up and down. I looked at her and saw she was asleep.

* * *

It was the first night in months that I actually slept through the night, no strange dreams or waking up from my thoughts of Ethan, it was comforting to have Bo in the same bed with me, even at times through out the night I would have to shut my libido down when I felt her press certain body parts against me. I looked at the clock, it was only a little after eight in the morning, I rarely ever slept in anymore. Bo had her back to me, tangled up in the blankets and snoring lightly. I went to run my hand over her back, when her cell phone began to vibrate on the side table.

Bo shot out her hand, picked up the cell phone and mumbled a answer. I could hear someone talking on the other line as she rolled over on to her back, her arm over her face, "Send it to the office, no, I know I am not at the hotel. I will be at the office in a half hour, leave it at the desk and I will sign for it when I get in." Bo groaned a couple more times, "Yes, Agent McCorrigan, FBI that is me. I swear to god some of you people need to start listening more." Bo held out the phone shut it off, and tossed it on to the bed. She rolled her head to look at me, smiling wide. "Morning."

I had sat up in the bed, it was strange to hear Bo as the Federal Agent. I smiled back, "Morning, how did you sleep?"

Bo moved to sit up in the bed, she tried to smooth out her hair, "Better than I have in a while. I hope that I didn't hog too much of the bed."

I raised my eyebrows as my smile stuck, "Just the usual amount." Bo reached out and playfully slapped me, "You are probably going to tell me I still snore aren't you."

I shrugged, nodding, "Actually..."

Bo shook her head and pushed back the blankets, "Well, you were mumbling about speedos in your sleep." she raised her eyebrows, "Is there something I need to know there?" she smirked at me as she grabbed her bag, pointing at the bathroom, "You mind?"

"Go ahead. The towels and other stuff are in the same place." I reached for my glasses, enjoying the ease that was there between Bo and I.

Bo smiled, pausing her steps to the bathroom, "How do you feel about joining me?" I swallowed hard and she blushed, "I mean at the office, D.C. Just sent over the final files. That's, uh, what that call was about." she fidgeted with her bag, "I know you don't start Monday...i have to go in now to get sign off on the chain of evidence. If you want to come in a couple hours? I can show you around and we can get started."

I nodded slowly, still stuck on her asking me to join her. "Sure, yea. I have the day off, I think it would be to get a jump on things." I picked at the blanket as Bo walked into the bathroom, calling out, "Perfect I will give you the address to the Federal Building." when she closed the door, I let out the breath I was holding.

When the water turned on, I had to occupy myself from the memories of the times I did share a shower with Bo. I got out of the bed and started to absently tidy up my almost spotless room. I walked over to the small desk to set some of my psychology magazines out of the way, I heard Alex yell up the stairs if I wanted coffee or breakfast. I sighed as he rattled off like a little brother, the different cereals he had. I groaned and turned quickly to yell down at him, I ran smack into a fresh out of the shower, only wearing a towel, Bo.

We collided with a collective oof and I felt her arms on mine as she had tried to stop the collision. I felt her wet hair seep through my shirt, the smell of shampoo was all around me. I could feel my heart begin to race, I looked down and mumbled, "Sorry, Alex is being annoying about breakfast." Bo looked up in my eyes, there was a soft sensuality washing over them. She leaned back and I saw her swallow hard as her breath was warm against me. It only took a moment before she moved, closing the small distance between us as her lips captured mine in a kiss. I felt her arms come around me, her hands laying flat against my back as she kissed me hard. Our lips still fit perfectly together as we kissed, I felt her bite gently at my bottom lip and I moaned. My hands went to the bare skin above the towel, her skin was warm from the shower and as I drew slow, light fingers across her, Bo pushed harder against me. She broke off the kiss gently, moving back her hands and reaching for the top of the towel, I didn't stop her. I wanted her as much as she wanted me, it was just a matter of who was going to make the first move.

We kept eye contact as she pulled at the towel, letting it fall slowly. I took a slight, unsteady breath. I was nervous. As the towel slid down to reveal the top of her breasts, Alex burst into the bedroom door, holding up a box of cereal, I grabbed the towel and pulled it up tight against Bo. Alex had his eyes on the back of the box, "I found this multigrain organic crap cereal you bought if that's..." he looked up and blushed, turning on his heels he left the room just as fast as he barged in, "Forgot Bo was here." he ran down the stairs. I moved past Bo closing the door, leaning my forehead against, "He has been doing that for six months, I need to retrain him." I turned back to Bo who had her back to me, she dropped the towel, allowing me a view of her bare back. I squeezed my eyes shut, the moment had been ruined and I was even more nervous. I opened them as she spoke, "I understand, I forgot he was here." I watched as she pulled on her bra and the shirt she came over in. "I couldn't resist, its been a minute, Lauren." Her voice was a raspy whisper as she said it, cluing me into just how long it had been. Bo pulled on her jeans and turned to face me as she buttoned them up. She smiled, stuffing the bag with her clothes.

Bo walked past me and I grabbed her elbow, stopping her, "For some reason, I am nervous." I looked in her eyes, silently translating what I meant. Bo nodded, "I know, I am too." she shifted her bag, looking down at it, "But I can wait, Lauren." she bent forward and placed a slow, soft kiss on my cheek. "I will write the address on the fridge." Bo walked out of the bedroom and downstairs, where I heard Alex bumbling through an awkward apology.

* * *

I showered and dressed in a casual sense, I had no burning desire to slide into my old detective suits or any uniform at all. I put on a decent pair of jeans and one of my better button downs, and worked on making the bed. I lingered for a moment at her pillow, I ran my hand over it, wishing I could figure out what I was so nervous about. Was it because I did not know this Bo? She was still the forward woman I met so long ago, she was a little more aggressive and impressive as a federal agent. There was something that was keeping me tentative with her. I pulled up the blankets and went to pick up the extra pillows that ended up on the floor when I saw her FBI Academy shirt she had slept in, laying on the floor. I held it in my hand and looked at it, maybe it was because I fell in love with a woman who was a bit of a stranger to me now. I folded her shirt up and set it on the pillow, regardless of what it was, I knew I was still in love with her and scared to close the gap time shoved between us. I sighed and smoothed at my shirt, walking downstairs to find Alex drinking coffee and looking over his cases.

He looked up at me, "Sorry, about earlier. You haven't had overnight guests in a while." he cringed, "I interrupted a possible reunion didn't I?"

I shrugged and poured a cup of coffee, "You did, but you are forgiven." I leaned against the counter and looked at the fridge, Bo had written the address on the dry erase board. Alex looked up at me from his files, "Are you going to work? You never dress up on your days off, just those nasty sweatpants and whatever t-shirt you slept in the night before."

I turned to look at him, giving him a dirty look, "When did you become my fashion police?"

"When those sweatpants became more disgusting than my gym shorts, Lauren." he smiled and sipped at his coffee.

I frowned, "They are my favorite, but yes I am going in to the new office, Bo was able to get the rest of our case files and she wants to show me the new office I will be working in."

Alex nodded and smirked, "Well, let me be the first to say it, Welcome back Detective."

* * *

Standing outside the mundane Federal Building I sighed, I had been past this building a million times in my life, only thinking it was a silly bankers building when in reality it was the Midwest hub for the FBI. I shift my bag in my hand and walked toward the entrance. I had to go through a lot of security to just access the front desk. When I was there, I asked the young girl to point me in the direction of Agent McCorrigans office. The cute young girl, smiled and asked for my identification. I looked around as the girl made a few phone calls. A handful of minutes later she hung up, "Captain Lewis? Agent Armstrong will be up to escort you to Agent McCorrigan." she slid a plastic ID card towards me, "You were not expected until Monday, you will have full access to the building then." I took the small plastic white card that had my picture on it from the Chicago Police Department, my name in black letters on the bottom. I clipped it on as the young girl issued a hearty welcome to the FBI. I smiled tightly as I picked up my bag and waited for my escort.

Ten minutes later a baby faced male walked up to me. He had blonde hair with a gentle red tint to it, bright blue eyes and a eager smile. He held out his hand to me as he approached me, "Captain Lewis, I am Agent Armstrong, I apologize for making you wait, I was held up for a moment." his handshake was firm and pleasant. He offered to take my bag as he led me to the elevator, "I will take you now to the basement where you and Agent McCorrigan will be working."

I nodded as we stepped into the elevator, this kid was talking a million miles a minute and I had no gap to interject anything. I let him keep going as he hit the basement button. Armstrong turned and smiled at me, "So. It's nice to meet you. I have heard a lot about you."

I kept my eyes on the floor indicator, watching how far down the basement actually was, "Hopefully all good things."

"Ha-ha! Yes. It's an honor to meet you too. I have admired your work." Armstrong's idle chatter suddenly grabbed my attention; I turned to face him, "My work?"

"Well yes, you know, the Latin Murders and Ethan Carpenter. I did my final case study at the academy on that whole event. It was really interesting how it all tied together in the end. I admire your strength to keep investigating after all that you went through. Is it really true that Carpenter walked Agent Cameron right out of the hospital minutes before you got there?"

I felt an intense heat overcome me; I had not talked about Ethan or Sarah to anyone in a long time, other than my therapist. Hearing moments of my life casually recapped brought up a rage and anger that I had spent six months of Captain grade pay on forgetting. I stared at the young agent with a fierce intensity trying to stay calm. He continued absently speaking as he fidgeted with his sleeves.

"It's just an incredible case and series of events! We were the first class of agents that got to look at that case. Especially since it involved the BSU. Can I ask? How did you deal with all of it? Finding out Agent Cameron was betraying you? Operation Eclipse was a masterpiece of undercover work."

His last words sent me over the edge, I snapped. "How long have you been out of the academy Armstrong?"

His eagerness dropped a bit, "Um, almost two months, ma'am."

I nodded and laughed, irritated, "Do me a favor, shut up. I don't want to hear another goddamn word about Evan Carpenter or Sarah Cameron. You will never understand what exactly happened just by a few case notes put together by uninformed assholes like you. She did not betray me; she was manipulated to the point where she had no control over her actions. I am glad that I served as a lab rat for you to study, but what I really want right now is you fill this elevator with your silence." I took a deep breath to steady my anger, "If you utter another word about "my work" I will make sure that you are assigned to the basement of the bureau spending the first twenty years of your career sorting through fingerprint files. Understand?" I didn't realize that I was almost yelling at the kid until I finished and watch Armstrong's face turn beet red in embarrassment.

He swallowed hard and uttered, "I'm…I'm sorry…I just thought…I didn't know…"

I didn't feel guilty for tearing into a fresh out the academy kid even though I knew I shouldn't have, I stared hard at him and said, "Think before you speak. Useful advice for any cop." The young agent nodded at me and stared at the elevator doors. I turned back to the floor indicator and closed my eyes and leaned my head against the elevator wall. Armstrong took my advice and let the elevator fall silent.

* * *

Armstrong led me through the basement hallways and to a large industrial looking office/warehouse. When I walked around the corner I saw Bo, in her federal pantsuit, digging around in the boxes that covered a long table. Armstrong interrupted her and informed her I was here. Bo glanced at me and thanked Armstrong, who would not look at me as he rushed out of the room. I set my bag down in a chair next to a vintage metal desk from the fifties. Bo waved me over, "Lauren, come look at these." She handed over a thick, aged and yellowing file.

I sat down at the desk I had set my bag next too, spreading the first file out in front of me. It was the overall crime scene report. I reveled in the ancient way of mapping a crime scene that was standard for the eighties. There were no computer graphs, no electronic mapping of body position. It was all hand drawn and filled with side notes. There were tons and tons of photographs and negatives attached with them. I set the photographs to the side, I didn't want to look at them right away, I wanted to read the report then compare to the photos. It was how discrepancies were found.

The report told me that Heatens body was found behind the Lincoln memorial twisted in an unnatural way that possibly pointed to a postmortem drop off. She was sexually assaulted and murdered, the cause of death was a combination of strangulation along with contusions to her head, that I later read in the coroners report contributed to blood clots that would have killed her eventually if she hadn't been strangled.

I continued reading the crime scene report, a rape kit had been done on scene and they managed to lift some fibers off her clothing. But all was inconclusive since the technology wasn't there to tear down a fiber to the point where you could track the date it was made, what it was made into, where it was sold and who bought it. The same went with the rape kit, there were DNA samples collected but no way to test it or create a suspect identity. I shook my head and wondered how many cases would have been closed if people had believed in the power of DNA thirty years ago. I finished reading the report and looking over the hand drawn map of the area and how the body was positioned, I then turned to the photographs. I looked at them clinically, even though I was looking at a seventeen year old girl who was brutally murdered, I looked past it and looked at the puzzle to figure out what pieces were missing.

The pictures were old and yellowed but the graphic image was preserved. The body was bruised all over and there was no blood around her. It was evident to me that she was murdered then taken to this spot, where she was left. That at least correlated with the report. I looked at the photographs of her hands, no defense wounds which struck me as odd but also pointed that she may have knew her attacker. I then moved to the photos of her face and for the first time in my career I had to look away. It wasn't because of the violence of the crime, I had seen crime scenes that were ten times worse. What forced me to look away was that the girl looked a little like Bo, strikingly so.

I suddenly had a flashback of that night in the warehouse where Bo bled out on the table in front of me. It suddenly choked me so hard I had to set the photo face down and lean back. I took a deep breath, maybe I had jumped back into this too soon. I began to rub my temples to chase the memory out. The room was silent but the gentle sound of pages turning as Bo looked through other files and the hum of the overhead lights, I focused on the hum to try and settle my heart beat, I need to calm down before I dug further into the evidence or I wouldn't find anything. I took steady breaths to calm myself and try not to draw attention to myself, I didn't want Bo to know that I was struggling with this, she would feel guilty and try to get me to stop working on this case. As much as it drudged up hidden fears, I knew just like with her, I would have to push through the small walls that built themselves up around me in the time of the Latin Murders and now. I had too.

I moved away from the desk and went to the evidence box next to the one Bo was digging through, and started pulling out the items one by one. Everything was in there, Heatens clothes, the fibers collected and small random pieces that were found around her body. I looked at Bo, "Do you mind if I?" She shook her head, "Go ahead, you have been listed as part of the chain of evidence and I honestly have little idea where to start with the clothing. I was trying to find the initial, unedited collection reports."

I went to one of the many long tables in the room, finding clean white paper, I covered the table top. I glanced at Bo as I secured the paper down, "This basement is fairly large for an office." Bo smiled as she pulled out files, "I know, Agent Carlisle is the one who suggested we move down here, apparently if this first case is success, she will be adding Agents and team members. For now, it's just you and I."

I let out a breath, "We are back to the beginning, partners again." I saw the smile on Bo's face and turned back to the evidence box. I pulled out the bag containing the clothing and after putting on a pair of gloves I started removing the contents. Heaten had been wearing a t shirt and jeans. I laid out the clothing on the table in front of me and looked over them. Something caught my attention. I suddenly picked up on the blatant fact that the clothing was stain free and looked cleaned. Even after almost thirty years there was no blood stains. Basic science would tell anyone that blood stains do not fade to nothing no matter how much time passed, they just degrade on a cellular level.

I leaned over the clothing then said to Bo over my shoulder, "Did it say anywhere in the initial crime scene report if the clothing had stains? If there were blood stains?"

I heard pages flipping, "Let me look, no. There is no documentation that there were any stains on the clothing. All there is a little side note that the clothing was removed at autopsy to preserve evidence. But nothing about staining, why?"

I turned to face Bo and leaned against the table, "Tell me what you think. Looking at those photos, the girl was beaten severely. She has lacerations and contusions all over her body, yet there is nothing on her clothes. Don't you think that is a little odd?"

I could see it mulling over in her head, she got up and came to stand next to me with the file in her hand. "Are you suggesting that the body was dressed after she was murdered?"

"Maybe, can I see the photographs again." She scooped them from the desktop and handed them to me, I looked at the photos. Fighting to pay attention and not scare myself like I did earlier. I looked and I yelled at myself for not noticing it in the first look, the clothing was clean, there were no heavy staining that should be there if a victim was murdered in their clothes. I handed the photos back, "My question is why it wouldn't be noted that the victim could have been dressed postmortem anywhere in the file? It's not there at all. I find that incredibly unusual even for almost thirty years ago. That is a big thing to overlook even if you have to hand write everything. Something doesn't feel right about it, about this." I motioned over the evidence and the crime scene photographs.

Bo was looking at the photos, then at the clothing and then back at the file. "You are right; it is unusual since the crime scene investigator even noted the cleanliness of the area of where the body was dumped. That is insignificant compared to mentioning the possibility of the body being dressed after death."

I looked at Bo, she had an intensity as she stared at the file, I could see why it was hard for to keep up an image of a fumbling rookie. Her intensity towards the job was admirable. I reached over and pointed at the name of the crime scene investigator. "We need to talk to him. Can you make that happen?"

"I can do my best. I will be back." Bo pulled out her phone started walking out of the basement office as she dialed. I could hear her cheery tone as she obviously called in a favor. I flipped through the file left on the desk, the lead crime scene investigator was a Tom Latham. I read through his report again, with every word I started to feel more suspicious that something was up, Tom Latham was very thorough in his reports noting almost everything including the position of the sun at the time of body discovery. It was already suspicious to me that he would have left out a key point as no stains on the clothing. In my mind a rookie investigator would find that to be a tell tale sign that the body was not murdered in the spot found and was redressed.

I flipped the file closed when Bo appeared silently next to me, she nodded and handed me a thick file. "This is Latham's personnel file, I am waiting for Armstrong to get back to me with his address and phone number."

I took the huge file from her, "How did you get this so fast?" I looked at her with slight admiration of her ability to make things appear out of nowhere, something that would have been valuable while in the homicide division.

"I had requested all of the personnel files of everyone who worked on the case so I could get a larger scope of who was working on the case. I had planned on reading through them all so I could eliminate suspects one by one. The rest of them are around the corner in the room next to us. for future reference." She had a smirk on her face. "I believe that was rule number twenty nine of Lieutenant Lewis's rules of investigation?"

I smiled and hefted the file in my hand, "It's actually rule number five." I motioned to another desk that looked as if Bo claimed it as her own, "Let's take at look at Tom Latham." I pulled my chair up next to Bo's desk and split up the file, handing Bo one large chunk. I had taken the first few pages that were the end of career highlights for Latham. He had an impeccable record even in the last few years of his job as Lead CSI for Metro DCPD. He had no blemishes in his record for mishaps in evidence collection or with cases that fell through because of his lack of attention to detail. Latham had a few commendations for cracking a few large cases, and retired out at his twenty five years. I chewed at my lip, I was hoping that his memory was still fresh on this case and in general, retirement opened up a door to easily forget all the things one did and saw on the job. I was mildly guilty of that in my short retirement.

Bo interrupted my thoughts as she read aloud from her section of Latham's past, "He graduated from Georgetown in 1976 with a degree in physics and biology, and then went to the police academy graduated class of 1977. Worked foot patrol for five years then was transferred to the crime scene unit because of the need and his biology degree fit the need. He seems pretty clean. I don't really see a connection here or why we need to look at him further, Lauren." Bo sighed as she shifted through more paperwork in the man's file.

I looked at her, "He is pretty clean, but for someone who obviously is well known for his attention to detail and not missing a step, something is up. I don't understand why he would miss such an important fact as the unstained clothes but remember to detail the exact position of the sun at discovery of the body. You get my point?" her brown eyes focused on mine as she listened, "I have a gut feeling that he did it on purpose or he was told to leave that out."

"Yes, but it could have slipped through the cracks. All these reports are hand written. It could be easy to overlook it." I had to smile at her devil's advocate way, this Bo, this Federal Agent Bo was my equal intellectually and would challenge me on things. I found it to be intriguing and invigorating.

"No I don't think so. But again, that is just my gut feeling. I want to talk to this guy, look in his eyes to know if it was just a bad day for him and he missed it or if he was told to miss it."

Bo sat thinking; I could tell she wasn't used to the street way of thinking, she had spent very little time as a street detective. Bo was looking at the case through a paper pushers eyes, that if it wasn't on paper there was an easy explanation for it. She never had the experience of the streets like I did. Bo tossed her half of the file back at me so I could combine it with my half and put it back. Her phone rang and she picked it up, "Armstrong? You got it for me? Thank you so much." She quickly grabbed a piece of paper and started jotting down a few notes. "Got it. I owe you Armstrong."

She hung up her phone and I asked, "Bo, can I ask a question? Was this a promotion or a demotion? I get the feeling that this giant basement office is you being gently pushed out of sight after my media storm rained down upon you." Bo had been hit hard by the media, she was followed and dragged through the gutter, casting some doubts on the FBI and allowing their Agents to have too much leeway. It was part of the reason why the FBI kept her busy and away from me for so long.

Bo looked up at the ceiling, "It was neither, it was an amicable sideways shift. Agent Carlisle gave me the title of SAC for this new unit, but until it gets off the ground and is proven to be successful, its just a title." Bo took a breath, "Cameron slipping through our fingers, more so mine, was not looked upon as favorable by the upper brass." She looked me in the eyes, "And us, they had a hard time sorting through our relationship and how I let it compromise Operation Eclipse."

I flinched lightly, ignoring the bit about our relationship, "An amicable sideways shift? I have never heard that. Nor have I heard of anyone being punished by being assigned the head of a new department."

Bo laughed lightly and said, "Let's just say everyone's got secrets that shouldn't get out, including my bosses."

I laughed lightly, "Ah, Mutual blackmail."

Bo just shrugged at me to say I don't know what you mean. I left it at that, I knew Bo would tell me anything I asked of her, but I was not ready to know any more secrets.

I stood up from the chair, "Let's go talk to Latham, I am curious as to what he has to say."

Bo leaned back in her chair, "We will go first thing Monday, I still have to get a company car for us and get you a travel expense account."

I blinked at her, "An expense account?"

She nodded, "Yup, you are technically a Federal employee and everything you do on their time has too be accounted for." she cleaned up the files and walked them over to the box, "Kenzi is back in town for a couple of days, she is in-between cases and I was going to meet up with her for dinner." Bo turned to look at me, "You are more than welcome to come with, she asks about you a lot."

I picked up the notes I had made and slid them into my bag, I actually missed the strange young girl. She had become a friend when we were down in D.C. I bent up from my bag and smoothed out my shirt, "You know, I think I will. I am intrigued to hear what stories Kenzi has to share." I lifted up the bag, sliding it over my shoulder, "It is hard to believe that she is an Agent."

Bo laughed, "You are telling me, I have know her for a while and she still surprises me." Bo finished packing up the boxes, grabbing her briefcase, "I can give you a ride home if you want."

I stood, staring at her, "Bo, will you stay over tonight?" it blurted out, "I mean you left your academy shirt at my house."

Bo walked over to me, smiling wide so the dimple on her cheek smiled with her, "I could be persuaded too, Captain Lewis." Her hand went to my arm, squeezing it gently, "But we will have to tell Alex I am staying over."

I looked at her, I wanted to kiss her, but we were in the middle of a Federal basement. I nodded, "I will text him as soon as we leave." Bo laughed and dropped her hand, "I will tell Armstrong that we are heading out for the day." I watched her walk to the light switches, shutting off lights and securing other things. I walked to the elevator as she followed behind, "Can you also apologize to Armstrong for me, I might have went off on him when he brought me down here."

Bo leaned over and hit the lobby button, "Let me guess, he asked about the Latin Murders and Cameron?" I glanced at her confused, she smiled and leaned against me as the doors shut, "I went off on him the first day he was assigned as my administrative assistant, he hit me with a barrage of questions and wanted to know about my relationship with you, and if you really were a Ice Queen like your reputation suggested."

I looked over at her, she had slid her arm into mine, pulling me closer to her, "And what did you tell him?"

Bo met my eye with her chocolate brown eyes, "I told him to never refer to the woman I love as the Ice Queen or I would make sure he would be placed on motor pool duty indefinitely." I smiled at Bo, "You didn't."

She nodded, "I did, and I am still in love with you Lauren." her voice dropped as she said it, I felt my smile fade a little as our eyes locked. Before I could say anything the elevator dinged, Bo stepped back, letting her arm fall from mine. I kept my eyes on her as the doors opened up to the lobby that was full of bustling agents and visitors. She stepped out and waved at the young girl at the front desk, "Will you tell Agent Armstrong I am leaving for the day, I will be back on Monday. Captain Lewis as well." she turned to me, holding up the car keys, "You want to drive?" she smirked as she jingled the keys in her fingers. I smirked, "I think it's finally time you start driving us around, partner."


	3. Chapter 3

Bo drove us to a restaurant in Wrigleyville, it was starting to pick up as the Saturday night crowd was starting to come out and mill around the city. I could spot Kenzi from blocks away, she was in her usual Gothic clothing and jewelry, I smiled as she caught Bo and I walking down the street and she excitedly trotted towards us, almost knocking Bo down with an aggressive hug. When she released Bo, she folded her arms and gave me a once over, "Lewis. It's nice to see you started eating again, fill out those hotpants Bo loves so much." I glanced at Bo and saw her blush as Kenzi held out her arms, "Gimme a hug you old cop you!" I kept my smile as I hugged the smaller woman, "How are you Kenzi?"

Kenzi let go of me and sighed, "I miss my partner here, I have been stuck over in Jersey working on wire taps, listening for hours on some goomba's hair routine." she rolled her eyes, "My new partner is booooringggg. He doesn't let me eat pizza in the safe house." she huffed, "Anyways, enough cop shop talk, lets eat!" she pushed in-between Bo and I linked her arms in ours, yanking us into the trendy restaurant.

After dinner the three of us had a couple of drinks trying to take the stress of the day off, I was telling Kenzi about what it was like to have Alex as a roommate, I could kind of tell she had a tiny crush on Alex, but I was not going to point it out to her. "Alex is like a little brother, big brother rolled into one. I am glad he is in the house." Bo interrupted, "Except for when he has bad timing." Bo winked at me and grabbed my hand under the table, squeezing it as Kenzi raised her eyebrows in interest. As Bo pushed my phone over, gently reminding me to text Alex she was staying over, a rowdy group flooded into the bar.

They were all sweaty and dirty young men, it was obvious that they had just come from a late summer softball game. They were loud and I smiled at Bo and Kenzi to signify that there was no point in trying to talk, until the group settled into their table and drinks. Both smiled back in quiet agreement. Just as I motioned to the waitress to bring us another round, I glanced up and saw one of the messy men, look at our table, squint at Bo. The man suddenly smiled large and came running over to the table. As he was two steps away he hollered, "BO! HOW THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Bo turned around and smiled back at the dirty young man stomping his way to her. She stood up and held her arms open, hugging the rather large man tightly. Bo was caught up in an embrace, "Danny! It's great to see you!" I felt awkward and stared at the last few sips of my beer. Kenzi stood up and high-fived Danny as well, "Heyoooo! What's shakin?" Bo stepped out of the hug ended and grabbed a chair from another table and pulled it up to ours, she swatted at the seat, "Sit! I had no idea you were in Chicago! Have a drink with us." Kenzi pounded on the table, "Shots! We have to do shots!"

Danny sat down roughly in the chair, still smiling. "Jesus Bo, I haven't seen you since the academy. Where the hell have you been?" he was focused on her and didn't notice me at all which added to my increasing awkwardness. Bo seemed to be extremely relaxed and comfortable with Danny, I watched her as her demeanor changed and her body relaxed, making a small ping of jealousy surge through my body. "I have been shuffled to the basement, Some new unit Carlisle is trying to get off the ground. Bo caught my eyes watching the strange reunion in front of me, "oh sorry! Danny this is Lauren. Lauren Lewis, She is my new partner on this new project."

Danny turned to me, smiling, he was a really good-looking young guy, and as he shook my hand I could tell he was looking me up and down. I smiled innocently to myself, it always made me giggle on the inside when men looked at women the way they do, the whole undressing with the eyes. He had a firm grip, "Nice to meet you Lauren Danny Edmonds. I went to the academy with these two fine ladies, gave me a run for my money." He wrapped an arm around Kenzi, "This one here, beat my top score at the gun range." Kenzi shrugged and blushed as she sipped at her beer. He pointed at Bo with the beer bottle in his hands, "And this one, I asked her to dinner at least three hundred times, and three hundred times she turned me down." He winked at Bo, and she smiled. I nodded with a tight smile on my face as my jealousy ramped up a little more. Danny took a sip of beer, "So have you been assigned with her to work the cold cases? What field office are you with? I don't think I have ever seen you around the office." He had a cheeky but charming way about him.

I shook my head, "I'm not FBI. I am a Captain with the Chicago Police Department."

Danny looked at me then at Bo, "Chicago PD? How did you wrangle that one Bo?" he paused and then looked at me, "Wait, Lauren Lewis. Not the Lauren Lewis from Operation Eclipse?" he looked harder at Bo as both Kenzi and Bo tensed up.

Bo smiled and tried to ease the tension, "Lauren is an incredible detective and Carlisle asked for her help with the new unit."

Danny patted Kenzi on the back, "Well here is to her being good enough to get you out of the basement and back upstairs where you belong. I still think its bullshit that they shuffled you down there after that business with Cameron on the rooftop earlier this year, fucking crazy gung-ho shit that was." Danny took a larger drink as Kenzi met my eyes, silently checking if I was okay. "What actually happened up there? They aren't releasing that part of the report, I heard crazy Cameron tried to stab you with that nutjob Carpenters knife? How did you get out of that one, Bo?"

I had enough of Danny's overwhelming bravado and his crass disregard for what Bo had gone through. The rooftop incident was not a war story to be tossed around over drinks. I stood up and looked at Danny, "I shot and killed Cameron as she was about to shoot Bo, and there was no stabbing or attempted stabbing. So I would suggest you don't run your ignorant mouth about a case you have no clue about." I held my hand up as Kenzi went to stand up, "I need to leave before I punch him in the face." My temper was at an all time high, I was tired of people trying to tell me what I had been through and maul the truth. Danny looked at me as I walked out with a blank look, I heard him ask Bo if I was that Captain from the rooftop.

I pushed through the half full restaurant and out into the city air, it was now early evening and I took deep breaths. I was still dealing with the aftermath of everything I had gone through. It was always just under the surface ready to spill out if I didn't work to keep it away from my emotions. I looked around, deciding to walk to the corner and grab a cab. I made it to the corner when I felt a small hand on my arm, "Whoa Captain hotpants, slow it down. Bo is right behind me, we are walking with you."

I sighed hard and looked down at the city sidewalk, "Sorry about that, I am still adjusting to people's ignorance." Kenzi cut me off, "Look, you don't have to tell me, I get it. I saw more than I wanted to when we took down the creeper in the lab." Kenzi slipped her arm into mine, "Danny is a frat boy, he has always tried to get into Bo Bo's pants and he has not changed. That's why he is in the white-collar unit, he sifts through bank accounts all day long. He's also been a little jealous Bo and I became sweet field agents."

I looked at Kenzi, "I lived the nightmare, I lived through it. I don't need to be reminded of it." My words were more of an out loud statement to myself. Kenzi sighed and laid her head against my arm, "I know. But I am glad you and Bo are back in each other's lives. You need each other." She looked in my eyes and smiled. Bo walked up to us, slightly flushed, "I am sorry about Danny, Lauren. He runs his mouth." I smiled and grabbed her hand, "Kenzi already apologized." I let out a breath, "I know it's early, but I think I am going to go home."

Kenzi looked at Bo, "You know what, I think I am going to call it an early one too." I caught the slight wink she threw Bo, "Call me in the morning Bo, we all can go to breakfast. Invite that handsome Alex too." Bo smiled and kissed Kenzi on the cheek, whispering something I couldn't hear. Kenzi gave me a quick hug, and quickly flagged a cab down. I walked back to the car with Bo, in awkward silence. We drove back to my house, in gentle silence. I was tired and thinking about what happened on the rooftop.

* * *

When we walked into the house, Alex was in the basement with the door closed, I could hear some action movie playing. I felt my phone vibrate as Bo closed the door, it was a text from Alex. Telling me he had locked himself in the basement for the rest of the night. The added winky face made me laugh lightly. I looked back at Bo, "It's only nine o'clock, I am a bit of a party pooper."

Bo giggled and stepped over to me, placing her hands on my arms, "I think there was something we were talking about this morning, that Alex interrupted. Do you want to go upstairs and finish talking?" Bo smiled wide, her dimple was in full effect and I felt my heart begin to race. I swallowed hard and let Bo's hand fall into mine as she pulled me behind her and up the stairs to my bedroom.

She leaned against my bedroom door, closing it with her weight, I heard the soft click of her locking it. I stood against my bed, as nervous as I was that morning. Bo pushed off from the door and walked towards me. She stood inches away from me, her eyes locked with mine. She whispered, "Do you remember the first day we met?"

"You were wearing your patrol blues, flush and excited as all rookies are." I reached out and brushed a few pieces of hair away from he face.

Bo closed her eyes and leaned into my hand, "I was flush and excited because of you, not that I was a brand new detective. It was you, you made me nervous with one look at how beautiful you are." Bo leaned forward, brushing soft lips against me cheek, "How strong you are, how you still make my heart skip when you look at me." Bo moved her kisses to the side of my mouth. I couldn't hold back, I gently pulled her chin towards me so I could kiss her. Softly at first, until I felt her push her body closer, against me. I moved my hands to her shirt, unbuttoning it so I could feel her bare skin like I had dreamt of for the last few months. My hands went to her side, I felt her gasp at the warm touch as the cool air swarmed around her open shirt. I moved my hand, dragging my fingers over her stomach when I felt the gentle ridge of her scar. I paused, a twinge of emotion coursed through me. I pulled away from her lips and stepped back so I could look at the scar. It was pink, still healing completely. It was larger than I remembered. I ran my fingers over it, swallowing back tears. I whispered, "This is my fault. I did this."

Bo looked down and grabbed my hand, holding it against her stomach, "No, Lauren. You didn't do this. None of it."

I gently pulled my hand away, I could feel the tears as memories of that night rushed forward. I moved away from Bo and sat on the edge of the bed, my head in my hands. "Every night, when I close my eyes I see them. Sarah and Ethan. I can't chase away the images of what happened, what happened to you." I looked up at Bo, tears running down my face, "I keep going over everything, and playing what if? What if I had done one thing different, you wouldn't have those scars, if I had just pulled the trigger that first time, everything would have been different. Inside and out." I looked back down at the floor, "That is what makes me nervous, I am afraid I will lose you again."

Bo sat down on the bed next to me, holding me close as I cried, "You will never lose me, Lauren. I promise." she kissed my temple, "I can wait, until you are ready. I love you so much Lauren." she kissed me again, I looked in her eyes and saw the immense amount of guilt she carried as well. Bo held me until I had cried myself out, nothing else happened. Bo and I crawled into bed together and held each other, until we both fell asleep.

* * *

The next day, Bo got the call for Latham and his address. We had to take a quick flight down to Virginia to where he was now living. When we walked out of the terminal, I laughed at the government sedan that was parked, waiting for us. I raised my eyebrows at Bo, she smiled and pulled out the car keys, "I will drive."

I read over Latham's file as we drove to his home in Springfield, Virginia, a large town right on the edge of the capital city. I looked out the window and admired the quiet neighborhood that Latham lived in; it was a lot like the suburbs of Chicago, quiet, green and full of people working on their lawns. For a moment I forgot I was in the south and missed home at the same time.

Latham lived in a ranch styled home that was very middle American, as we pulled up to the address scribbled on the piece of paper Bo handed me, I could see a woman sitting in front of flower beds that lined the front of the house. I tucked the personnel file under the seat and stepped out. I waited for Bo as the woman looked our way, smiled and started to get up to greet the strange women who just pulled up the street in front of the house. As Bo came to my side I smiled to the woman, looking at Bo, "If you don't mind, I will take this one. Latham is a street cop and no offense you might throw him off with your desk cop dialogue." I had a slight smile in my voice as I said it. Bo nodded, "I was actually going to suggest that. But let me handle the introductions, I have a little more tact than you do with first impressions." she had a slight hint of arrogance in her voice, I had to smile at myself, this Bo was quite the match for me at times, she didn't back off.

The woman came up to us, "Can I help you?' her voice was gentle and sweet, she had a small southern accent in it and hearing it made me feel warm. Bo smiled back at her and said, "Yes, we are looking for Tom Latham? I'm Special Agent Bo McCorrigan and this is my partner Lauren Lewis."

The woman's smiled turned tense, "You are looking for Tom? May I ask why you want to talk to my husband?" her face was full of worry. Bo kept her smile, "Mrs. Latham there is nothing to worry about ma'am. We just need to talk to him about some of his past work, we need his help on an old case. Do you know where he is?"

She looked between Bo and I, I could see her thinking about it, "Can I see your badges?"

Bo nodded, pulling hers out of her pocket and handing it over to Mrs. Latham, I dug out my Chicago badge and handed it over as well. As Mrs. Latham looked at mine she said, "You are a long way from home, Captain."

I smiled and said quickly, "That's true ma' am but I came all the way down here for your husbands help." I figured the flattering comment would ease her demeanor.

It did, Mrs. Latham handed back the badges and said, "Wait here. I will get him for you."

I stood in the yard looking at the care and attention to detail to the overall look of the home. Everything was perfect, the flowers were perfectly spaced from each other, there were no weeds forcing their way through the cracks in the pavement. I took my attention to the house itself, the house was an older one but you could never tell, it was immaculate. Everything was clean and polished.

It built up on my suspicions that something was up with Latham missing that key point in his investigation. It also made me wish that I had stuck to that early retirement a long time ago and settled into the normal life I planned with Bo. I wanted a perfect house in a quiet neighborhood and my only concern was to weed the flower beds once a month. I looked at Bo, "I want a house like this when I grow up."

She smiled back at me, "You do have a house like this, with a lake view."

"I know, but I think I mean I want this. I want a quiet life; I envy those who have normalcy." I met her eyes as I said it and she held the gaze for a second. Bo smiled and looked down, "It will be yours one day, ours one day. You have the strong will to make anything happen, Lauren." Her voice was soft as kept my gaze. I had wanted a quiet life with Bo, and in this moment, I wanted it again and even more than when I had it.

Mrs. Latham appeared and broke my moment of zen, she had a bright smile and way about her, "Tom is on the back patio, he said to head on back and meet him. Just go up the driveway, he is off to the right reading the paper. If you ladies need anything just come and find me." she smiled again as all cordial hosts should.

Bo spoke for us, "Thank you Mrs. Latham, I promise this won't take too much time and we will be out of your hair."

Mrs. Latham waved at us, "oh no bother, you are not interrupting anything but some overdue weed pulling." She turned and went back to her spot we had found her.

I followed Bo to the back yard where we found Latham sitting at a patio table reading the Washington Herald. Bo spoke again first, "Mr. Latham? Hi, I am Agent McCorrigan and this is Captain Lewis." She held her hand out to Latham, "But feel free to call us Bo and Lauren."

Latham put his paper down, offered his hand to Bo, "Yes my wife told me, nice to meet you both." We both shook his hand, "Please take a seat and fill me in on why you are visiting an old retiree on this fine afternoon."

"well, we are here to talk to you about an old case that came into our hands. We are the heads of a newly formed cold case unit for the FBI, and we need your help."

Latham nodded, "Alright, I will help you any way I can. I have been off the job for some time now, I do miss it every so often, but I cannot beat retirement." He smiled wide as he said it.

Bo looked at me to pick it up from there, I took a deep breath, "Mr. Latham do you remember the Angela Heaten case? 1983?"

I could see Latham tense up at the name, he looked at me then began picking at his paper, "um…yea, vaguely. Its been thirty years since that case, I can't promise you that I remember much but what about it?"

I leaned back in my chair to show that I was at ease hoping it would ease him as well, "Its been reopened by the request of Angela's parents. So it's sitting on my desk now. Looking through some of the files a few things grabbed my attention. you were the lead crime scene investigator right?"

Latham shook his head, "Yes I was. I assume that it was in the files you read?" I could tell by his tone that I wouldn't be able to play the dumb cop with him. He was a sharp as his crime scene reports portrayed him.

"Yes, it was in the file. I read over your whole report, which is full of outstanding work. I have to give you credit for being so thorough and detailed back then when it must have taken you at least three hours to fill out the reports. I admit I had a hard time sticking too filling out the traffic incident reports back when I was on patrol, and that was click and select." I had a sly grin on my face.

Latham looked at me, "How long were you a patrol officer? Where was it again, Chicago?"

"I was patrol for five years, mainly on Chicago's south side then up in the east side when I was promoted to homicide detective. I still am at the Upper East Side district, the 579 but I have butter bars now. No more parking tickets for me, I do sometimes miss pounding the pavement."

Latham smiled at me, "Yea but I bet you don't miss being called meter maid or getting cornered by the little old ladies who lost their car in the piggly wiggly parking lot." He laughed a little and I could see he was remembering the old days. I had made a connection, you could only understand a patrol officers pain if you yourself had been one. I laughed with him.

After a moment he looked at me without suspicion, "What do you want to know about the Heaten case, I remember everything from that one. It was the only case I couldn't close."

"I read through your files, you have an incredible attention to detail, I can even see it in the way you take care of your house. But the Heaten file, something caught my eye and its bothering me. I think you might know what it is too."

Latham looked out in the backyard I could see that he had gone back to that day in 1983 years and he was standing at that crime scene again. He didn't speak, so I kept on, "I just want your help, why didn't you document that the victims clothes had no stains on them, that it could be possible that the victim was dressed postmortem."

Latham focused on me and I could see across his face that this was one thing that had haunted him for years, he looked at Bo, "Agent McCorrigan, would you mind finding my wife and asking her to bring us some lemonade? I am getting a little thirsty."

Bo looked at me and I nodded lightly, I could tell he didn't want to say anything in front of a fed. No street cop, retired or not, ever feels comfortable around a federal agent. Mainly in part that feds never pounded the pavement and understood the unspoken rules of being a street cop. Bo smiled and said, "Of course, I will be right back." Latham waited until she disappeared around the corner before he turned towards me.

"I did initially document it. It was the first thing that I noticed. Her clothing was absolutely clean. I immediately made note that I felt the body was dressed after her attack/death. I even went to the coroner and had him note it in his report. I bet that its missing from his report too?"

I shook my head yes, it was missing from the coroner's report, "The only reason it caught my attention was that you didn't document it, but you documented all the little minor things. It stuck out. That's why I am here, something isn't right about this case I can feel it." I took a slight breath, "What happened."

Latham took a deep breath, "I don't really care anymore, this damn thing has bothered me for years. I 'm retired now, what's the point in trying to hide it anymore." H closed his eyes, he was working up the nerve to spill it to me, "When I filed my report it was kicked back to me. I was told that it needed to be edited, I did. I went over the whole thing again and made sure I had included everything that I felt was crucial to the crime scene, I submitted it again. This time it was hand delivered to me by the homicide detective working the case. He told me I need to edit it again, I was confused and told him that everything was there. He threw the file down on my desk and told me to call the Captain."

Latham paused, clenching his jaw as his memories were coming to life. "I was told to remove the notes on the victims clothing, that it was insignificant to the case since there was no stains or body fluids on them. I tried to debate it and was told that since we lacked the manpower or equipment to investigate the clothing any further, since, in the Captains words, it was an open and close case of random violence. I tried to explain to the captain that it was incredibly significant to the case because it meant there were two scenes and the faster we found the second scene, the closer we would to finding a suspect. I was told I had no argument and that I was to follow his direct order. Take it out of my report, resubmit, and move on. I tried going to IAD but got nowhere but threats of demotion to meter maid or termination. I needed the job, I went with it."

I could see the sadness and the shame in his face. Latham looked me dead in the eyes, "I have regretted not fighting harder. I know that if we found a second crime scene we would have found who killed that girl."

I smiled back at him, "It's not your fault. You did your job. Now you have the opportunity to do what should have been done." I took a chance in asking, "Do you have the original reports? The unedited one?"

Latham smiled at me, "Actually I do, I kept it. Something deep down told me to hold onto it."

"Do you mind if I take it? and do you think you could give me the names of the lead homicide detective and the Captain in charge? I have an urge to talk to them."

"Sure, they can't hurt me if the feds are on the case now." Latham looked at me, motioning for me to take notes. "You want to talk to Captain John Walker and Steve Exeter. Exeter is retired but you can find him in the security shack at the country club up in Fairfax. Be warned he is one fat angry bastard." I could sense an immense amount of distaste for Exeter, I knew right away that talking to him would require more effort than I had been used too pushing papers at my Captains desk.

Bo came around the corner with a tray of glasses, I smiled at the image. She looked like an overpaid waitress in her dress pantsuit. She set the tray down and Latham stood up, "Let me go get that file for you Captain Lewis, be right back." He disappeared into the house as Bo sat down next to me, looking at me slightly confused, "Which file is he getting for you?"

"The original unedited case report for the Heaten crime scene. I have two names we need to investigate when we get back to the office and then go talk to both. Latham confirmed my suspicions that someone is hiding something and it isn't him."

Before Bo could question further, Latham came out of the house, he handed me an aged envelope, that was a little thicker than I expected. "Here. This is the original. Everything. I have had it in my safe for almost three decades. My wife recently tried talking me into throwing it out. I am glad I ignored her." Latham smiled and winked at me as I took the envelope from him.

"Thank you Mr. Latham, you have helped us out immensely." I slid the envelope into the briefcase Bo had next to her chair.

"Don't thank me, just close this case. Call me if you need anymore information or help. I would like to put this one to bed more than you." he had a sudden look of determination.

I stood up and shook his hand, "I promise. Thank you again."

Bo stood up at the same time and shook Lathams hand as well. "We appreciate your time, I apologize for interrupting the day."

Latham shook his head, "No don't worry about it. I should apologize for asking you to leave to get the lemonade, but I don't trust feds. Never have never will." His tone was sincere as he said it.

Bo smiled, "I don't blame you." she turned and walked back around the corner to the car.

I thanked Latham again and gave him my card just in case he thought of anything else. I walked back to the car and found Bo already inside. I got in and looked at her, "What are you thinking, Bo?"

"Why does everyone hate federal agents?" Bo looked at me with a gentle questioning look, "I was a police officer, a road officer for five years."

I reached over and put my hand on her leg, "Think about when you were a street cop, and IAD or one of the federal agencies took over your case? They would run over your work, tear it apart and take credit for all the work you did. Street cops hate them cause they have no real understanding of what's it like to be shot at, spit on, beaten up and called every name in the book for writing a parking ticket. You see the clean side of crime and deal with it from a distance. Federal Agents don't spend long summers in the city wearing dark polyester pants, pounding the pavement."

Bo let out a sigh, "I have done that, Lauren. I went into the FBI to have a career. When I was in the police department I was shuffled around and ignored by the boy's club." She looked up at me. I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, "I know, but all they see is the gold badge and the three letters. They don't see the amazing woman detective I know."

Bo smiled and eased up, "I learned from the best." Bo started the car, driving away from the subdivision, she reached over and found my hand. Lacing her fingers in mine and saying nothing.


	4. Chapter 4

** A/N: I know I have been slow to update, but with no sleep and a bit of a writers block, its taken a minute. but I am back, I have a story to tell and it will be longer and slower to progress because as I said many a time, I want to do this story right, so its going to be a mix of bo and laurens rebuilding and the progression of the case. I have more to write today, but I really need a nap...so enjoy this little bit, and I think there may be a steamy bit in the next chapter...**

**oh also! two amazing readers! r0ci0am and otilliavisser set up a twitter fanclub for me and the other great writer somewhataddicted, so if you are a fan and are interested, head on over to twitter and check out wantedstrangers for all sorts of fun!**

**EnjoY!**

As we drove to the hotel, I secured the original file in the secret pouch in my briefcase. I would look at it later, but first I wanted to track down Steve Exeter and get an idea of who I would be dealing with.

I looked over at Bo as she navigated the capital city traffic, "Can you do me a favor and locate a Steve Exeter, he was on the metro pd with Latham. I need to locate his file and current address." I paused, "When you were working Metro, you ever hear of a Sgt. Anthony Bellico?" I glanced at Bo as she furrowed her brow, taking a breath, "Lauren, I never worked at Metro." she looked away from me, speaking softly, "That was another lie, a cover story. I was on the books at Metro as a part of the narcotics team, had a fake badge issued to me, but everyday I went to work, it was to the FBI headquarters and sift through intel with Kenzi."

I kept my eyes on Bo, it actually did not surprise me, the lie. I took a breath and nodded, turning to look out the window at the lengths of governmental cars all stuck in lines of heavy traffic. I didn't know what to say, "Can you at least try and get me Exeter's file." I dug out a small notepad, scribbling the names down and handing it over to Bo, "We also need to get Captain John Walkers file and Bellico's." Bo nodded quietly as she grabbed the paper from my hand, "Lauren, I..."

I shook my head, "I want to start on Exeter as soon as possible, he could be the weakest link." I sighed hard, "Latham told me he is a bit disgruntled, so he may not hesitate to throw others under the bus if he is pressured."

"I will make a few calls as soon as we get to the hotel." I looked at Bo, her voice was soft and I could hear her guilt around the edges of her tone. I said nothing as I continued to watch the traffic, I knew that every small step her and I took, there was a possibility of more lies to be unraveled, I knew it was not her fault, but it didn't make them sting any less. I let silence fill the car as we turned into the parking structure for the hotel.

* * *

I waited in the lobby of the hotel as Bo finished checking us in. I had small flutters of memories from the last time we were in a hotel together. The good and the bad. I sighed, wishing that my lingering thoughts and hurt would disappear, it was often choking and filled more of my being then I wanted. I stared at the poorly done mural that hung over a large couch facing the concierge desk, losing myself in thoughts as I often did as of late.

"We are all set, Lauren. Up on the fourth floor." Bo walked too me, handing over a room key. She was smiling and her tone was light, I knew she was trying to ease the awkwardness that had befallen us in the car. "If you want, you can head up and get settled in, there are two king beds." Bo paused and looked me in the eyes, "I didn't want to assume anything." I gently took the room key, smiling lightly, "Thank you." I slid the key in my pocket, bending down, I picked up my bags as Bo reached for her briefcase. "I am going to run over to the headquarters real quick, I had Exeter's file pulled while I was waiting for the clerk, it's all set and waiting for us."

I looked at Bo, "I can go with you."

Bo smiled tightly, "I have to meet with Carlisle as well, progress report." Bo knew how much I disliked Carlisle, I clenched my jaw involuntarily, "I can avoid her, I want to get a look at the file and maybe get started on digging up Walkers, I know you federals have the database and you told me I have federal clearance to use whatever I need."

Bo moved to the elevators, "Let's drop our things and go to the HQ, after we can go to dinner and work on a interview setup." I followed her, we were only in D.C. For a few days, I had suggested we tackle Exeter first, since he was retired and least likely to bend too politics or a massive retirement payout like the Captain.

Another stiff silence fell in the elevator as we rode up, I wanted to get to work, but knowing that I was walking back into the building of lies, it stirred up more feelings. I stared at the fake wood grained walls of the elevator car, I felt Bo's hand on my arm. "Lauren, whatever you don't want too do or wherever you don't want too go, tell me. You are more important too me than any case or career ever will be."

I swallowed hard as I looked in her eyes, "Doesn't it bother you? In the least, everything? You don't seem to show it much if it does." I paused, trying hard to keep my tone gentle as I asked a question that had been eating at me for so long, and pushing closer to the surface from the moment Bo sat down in the pub. Bo never seemed to show much emotion in regards of what we went through, granted she was always concerned for me, but it was hard to let her in at times. Feeling she was closed off to that part. Bo took a slow breath, looking at her hand on my arm, "It does, all of it. I dream about the rooftop, the warehouse and the night I almost lost you completely. I really don't sleep a night when I don't dream of how I could have done it all so differently." Bo met my eyes, "The one thing that bothers me the most, is how much I hurt you, Lauren. The dreams, I can overcome. Sleeping pills, hypnosis, even heavy drinking." She smiled lightly, "but I am scared I can never show you, tell you enough of how sorry I am for the lies and the hurt I caused. Things to be very different." Bo stopped, her hand dropping from my arm, "I can feel it in your hesitation with me and it scares me more than staring down a psychopath with a gun to my head."

The elevator door dinged and opened slowly, "But I will fight for us just as hard as I did in the beginning." Bo picked up the briefcase she had set down, "Until you tell me too stop." She exited the elevator, a sad smile on her face. I could easily read the honesty in her voice and on her face, she was determined to make up for the past indiscretions, repair the holes left by lies. I watched her walk as I slowly moved behind her, she had answered my nagging question, tenfold. The only thought I had, would I be able to overcome the fear, the damage in my heart and mine, to be the woman she once and still loved.

* * *

Bo drove us to the FBI HQ, I was grateful to give up my need to always drive, D.C. Traffic was worse than Chicago traffic could ever hope too be and I was already on edge. I walked with Bo into the building, clenching my jaw as I walked across the inlaid seal on the floor, the last time I walked into the lobby, I was limping and my world had been ripped apart.

I could not help but smile to myself as I noticed many an Agent, man and woman, smile at Bo as she strode down the hallway to the Intel unit she once worked in. The woman was beautiful and her confidence as the federal agent was quite a turn on and even wore down the walls I had half built around her. I found myself staring at her as it was evident she had the same impact on others as she did me, just looking at her forced a smile into any level of a broken heart. It also help her dark blue pantsuit was perfectly formfitting. Bo stopped quickly, forcing me to bump into her because my eyes were not exactly focused on my footsteps. I blushed as I heard her giggle, "Eyes on the road, Lewis." She pointed at the door she had stopped in front of. "This is where Exeter's file will be." She opened the door and we were both greeted by the soft hum of multiple computers. Bo kept talking as she walked inside, "The hard copy I will pick up from Carlisle, but while you wait for me, you can start reading." Bo moved to one of the many computer terminals lining a far wall, pulling out the chair for me to sit. As I sat, she leaned over me, clicking into the system.

"I set you up with a user ID and a password. When you are in, change it like you would at the station." Bo leaned closer as she maneuvered the mouse, I could smell her light perfume mixing with the slow body heat she was emitting, I sighed lightly as I felt her press against me. I could hear her smile as she whispered, "Username is CPTLewis and the password is..." Bo bent forward, closer to my ear, "onthecounter." she brushed her lips across my ear before standing up. I could not hold in the shiver that rocked my body, I knew I was blushing, the password was in reference to our almost first time together, on my kitchen counter. I was lost in the sound of my heart pounding, it was quickly interrupted by the sound of Bo clicking the database open on the monitor. I fidgeted as Bo moved completely away, ending all contact with me. She smoothed out her shirt, "I should not be more than an hour. You have access to everything you need, Lauren. If you want hard copies, make notes and I can have one of the secretaries or an intern pull them." I nodded as I slowly turned to look at her, still feeling flush from her small, intentional movements and words, she was smirking when I caught her eyes, I had to force out the thanks. Bo nodded, still smirking and walked out, "If you need me, text me."

As soon as the door clicked closed behind her, I let out the breath I was holding and leaned forward on my hands, Bo certainly had an effect on me like no other and she was highly aware of it. No matter how guarded I felt I needed to be, it was trumped by the simplest touch from her, one touch and one well placed soft breath had me unraveling in my hard plastic chair. I shook my head and took a deep breath, trying to refocus on navigating the database.

The database was similar to the one I used daily at CPD, in a few clicks I was soon looking at the full unedited personnel file of on Steven Phillip Exeter. Exeter, aged fifty four, had been a police officer in Metro for thirty years when he took his earlier retirement out, less than two years ago. I scrolled over his Academy records, he was nothing to write home about in terms of academics or even his physical agility. He had a very boring and bland police record, never really moved forward but really never had any missteps that would point to him being a crooked officer. He was just floating under the radar and above it enough to stay out of serious trouble. I clicked through some of his first responder reports, he was nowhere near as thorough as Latham, but his reports were decent. I clicked and read over some of his evaluations, and teats where I noticed something. The last fifteen years of his career, all of his evals were higher score than any of his previous ones, and the signing supervisor was Sergeant Anthony Bellico. I clicked through the evals and saw that, he was graded higher than ever before and that Bellico wanted to pull him into the narcotics unit he ran, stating Exeter had a good solid set of street smarts that would benefit the unit well. I scribbled a few notes, Exeters other evals stated that he was not a team player and had been reprimanded for neglect of duty, caught sleeping in his squad car or failing to handle citizen complaints properly. But when Bellico took over the evaluations, Exeter became a star employee. Leading me to believe someone had something on someone.

I wrote down notes, I wanted to look at the hard copy of Exeter's file, it just felt a little more solid to have the hard copy in my hand, as if I could read the emotion clearer in the handwriting of others. I searched through the database and found Bellico's file, I wrote down the case file number to hand off to Bo, I had only glossed over his and saw that it was a massive file and that he had multiple lateral transfers from a few other departments until he landed in Metro. I sat back as I had a strange curiosity hit me, I took a breath and typed quickly, glancing at the clock, my hour alone was almost up.

I paused as I hit go, and in three seconds Special Agent Ysabeau McCorrigan was laid out in front of me on the monitor. I took a shaky breath, as I looked at her complete record, professional and personal. It was a lot like the one Alex had managed to get for me when I was suspicious, but this was the truth, unedited and laid out in front of me. Bo had not lied when she told me her home life was less than spectacular. She had been in and out of temporary foster homes on the south side of Chicago, her mother was an negligent alcoholic, and eventually Bo was placed with her grandparents in the suburbs right before her eighteenth birthday. They made finishing high school and taking on college a little easier and Bo excelled, she graduated with her degree in criminal justice from the University of Illinois, and walked right into the police academy. Graduating at the top of her class she hit the streets of Chicago and became a up and coming officer. For two years she was on the fast track to detective, closing out the small cases she would lead, taking classes at night for forensic investigation.

I smiled, one way or another, I would have met this infectious brunette. I clicked a few more times, heading into her federal file. Bo had been recruited when she applied, it was the start of operation eclipse. The operation had been in the planning stages for close to five years, as Ethan was at the height of his spree, attacking Cameron. Bo was pulled in and two weeks after her FBI academy graduation, she was placed with me since it had been pulled out Ethan was on the hunt for me. That's where the blemishes of Bo's perfect career began to appear. She had fought hard numerous times to leave the operation, she had many a counseling from Carlisle and other SAC's that she was too stick to the task at hand and not allow her emotions cloud her thoughts. I sifted through statements and reports of my activity, they had started out incredibly detailed and thorough, mainly about me, but as time wore on. Bo's reports became shorter and less descriptive. She was not lying when she told me she had fought to leave it all behind for me. I clicked through more notes from her superiors that she was losing focus, the last thing I found in her file was her resignation letter. I glossed over it, it was a standard professional resignation letter until I got near the bottom I paused, "It is in my heart of hearts I can no longer successfully continue this investigation and the personal surveillance of Detective Lieutenant Lauren Lewis, Chicago Police Department. I can no longer lie or continue to lie to someone I have fallen in love with and will choose over any future I may have with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Police work has always been my passion and my focus, but I can no longer, with deep conviction, say that I will be able to forgo my feeling for Lieutenant Lewis to continue the mission I was tasked with. At this time, I am submitting my full resignation from Operation Eclipse as well as from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, effective immediately."

I swallowed hard as I looked at the date of the letter, Bo had written it the day I was attacked in the basement lab of the medical college. The day everything was ripped apart.

I heard the door open, I clicked out of Bo's file quickly and pulled up Bellico's file. I turned to Bo, "I found Bellico, can we get the hard copy for him too?"

Bo smiled tightly as Carlisle was two steps behind her. I stood up, my blood racing at the sight of the other Agent. Carlisle smiled as she walked with Bo, "Hello Lauren, its good to see you."

I nodded, "I can't say the same." I stared at her, past Bo who seemed very quiet. Carlisle laughed lightly, "Still a little upset with me, understandable. Agent McCorrigan filled me on your progress and I am impressed at how fast you two work." Carlisle looked around the large room, "She has the file you requested and I will gladly get you the others you requested." Carlisle met my eyes, "This case is important to us, it has left a mark on the agency and Metro. I came down with Agent McCorrigan too say hello and to tell you, whatever you need in this case, I can provide and will provide. I want this case to be closed up with Angela's murderers facing long overdue justice." Carlisle's eyes turned intense as she folded her arms, "I also wanted to issue an off the record apology, Lauren." She met my eyes as a moment passed between us, I knew instantly what she meant. I nodded lightly and looked at Bo, "I would accept it, but on and off the record, it will take some time."

Carlisle nodded, "Understandable." she turned and looked at Bo, "Everything is set up for you two, expense accounts and full federal access to whatever you both may need." Carlisle dug into her pocket and pulled out a thin black wallet and handed it over too me, "You may need this, it will hold a little more weight that your gold star." I took the wallet and opened it up, it was a FBI badge and my temporary agent card, "I am deputizing you, you will be a temporary agent until the case is completed or you make a decision to come to our side."

I looked up at her as I held onto the badge, "Are you offering me a job?"

"I have been for the last year, Lauren." she smiled tightly and nodded at Bo, "I will leave you to it." Carlisle walked out of the room leaving Bo and I. I closed up the badge wallet and dropped it in my pocket, "I don't understand you federal people."

Bo smiled, "I don't either, but she is offering you a job. We talked about it at the end of the briefing, you are brilliant and her bosses are pushing her hard to recruit you." Bo walked closer, putting her hands on my arms, "I would not be against it, I love working with you." She looked in my eyes, "Did you find what you needed down here?"

"I did." I held out the paper with the names and file numbers I wanted, "We just need to get the hard copies of these two as well. I want to surprise Exeter tomorrow, he works over at the country club in Fairfax, still there by his tax records." Bo smiled at me, "Well then detective, you ready to for dinner?"

I stared into her brown eyes, feeling a little different after reading what I had in her file, "I am."

Bo dropped her hands, grabbing mine with hers, "Lets go then, hit the hotel, change out of these clothes and I want to take you to the best little diner on the edge of the suburbs. Close to where we used to live." I felt her tense up when she let it slip, I squeezed her hand back, letting her know it was okay. "Bo, we have a past, most of it is good memories." I smiled to put her at ease.

"I know. Its a past I miss." Bo turned and held the door open for me, letting me walk out first into the now bustling hallway full of suited agents trying to save the world.

* * *

At the hotel, I wanted to take a shower, feeling dusty and uncomfortable from being in that stuffy building. I stepped out of the steam and wiped at the mirror, looking at myself as I always did, the circles under my eyes were slowly leaving my face. I toweled off my hair as I heard Bo outside rustling through her suitcases. I pulled on my jeans and my bra, avoiding the mirror as the steam cleared out more, my upper body was covered in scars and if I caught glimpses, I would stare at them and let the memories of how I got each one fill my head. I looked around the bathroom for my shirt, I had forgotten to grab it when I hustled into the hot water. "Shit." I grabbed a towel and held it over my chest and opened the door, Bo was on the other side of the room, pulling out her own change of clothes. I stepped out of the bathroom and tried to run to my suitcase before she turned and caught me.

I hand my shirt in my hand as I dropped the towel, Bo turned to me. "Oh hey, I didn't know you were all done..." she was smiling as she looked at me, but I watched as her eyes hit my barely covered body. Her smile faded as she lingered on the scars. I looked away from her as I tried to fumble my shirt on, "I forgot to take a shirt in there." I closed my eyes so I would not have to see what was behind her eyes.

I sighed as I tried to pull on the shirt, I did not even notice Bo had closed the distance between us, until I felt her hand on my arm. Her voice was soft, "Lauren..." I turned to her, her eyes were glassy as she pulled her gaze from my scars. I shook my head, "Bo, no."

Bo pulled at my arm so I would turn to face her, "Yes, let me look at them."

I sighed heavily, trying to resist her request. I wanted to cover my body up and leave it covered, I had become even more self conscious over the last few months as some of the scars deepened, physically and emotionally. Bo tugged harder and I swallowed hard, facing her. I heard her gasp slightly as I dropped my arms and let the shirt dangle in my fingers. I flinched as I felt her warm finger tips graze over the ones on my shoulder, then to the one just under my bra, and then to my oldest one across my stomach, I held my breath as she pressed her open palm against that one. I never let her touch them, or look at them when we were together, I had always made sure that I was covered up or the lights were dim. I felt Bo grab my right arm and pull it up, so she could look at the largest scar on my wrist. "Lauren, why do you hide these?"

I opened my eyes and looked at her, "Because, they remind me of all the times I failed."

She ran her thumb over my wrist, before pulling it up to her lips, pressing a soft kiss against my skin. I shivered as she whispered, "Surviving is not failure." Bo pulled my arm gently, pulling me closer to her as she leaned forward and kissed the scar on my upper arm from Cameron shooting me, she ran her hand down my arm and settled on my waist as she moved back, looking deep in my eyes, "If I could take them all way, I would." I reached up, softly placing my hand on her cheek, I said nothing. I slowly leaned forward, my lips grazing hers as I felt her gasp. I kissed her, letting her slide her arms around to my shirtless back, I felt goose bumps rise at the warmth from her hands pressing against me.

I reached, holding her face with both my hands as I kissed her softly, and slowly. It was like a first kiss, a first kiss out of the movies, slow and purposeful. I missed this woman in my arms, and wanted to take it slow, savoring her as I fought all of the mix of emotions rolling through me. She was the one who could take all of the scars away. I broke off the kiss, leaving Bo breathless and flushed, I wanted to go further, forgo dinner and lay her on the bed, but something inside of me, held me back. It could be the nerves I felt from Bo seeing all of my scars at once, and her reaction too it.

I pulled my shirt on, making Bo frown. I smirked, as I ran a hand down her face, "That's for the password." Bo groaned, as I walked past her to grab my jacket. Bo came up behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist, holding me close against her, "Lauren, I mean it, I wish I could take it all away."

I turned into her arms, holding her chin up so I could look in her deep brown eyes, "You are, little by little. Just stick with me, I know I am painfully slow and hesitant." I swallowed quickly, "I read your file."

Bo looked down, nodding, "I knew you would." her hands did not leave their spot on my back. "I had them unclassify my resignation letter so you would see it." she reached up and grabbed the hand holding her chin, "It's still all true, I still love you as much as I did from the moment I fell for you, Lauren. I wanted you to go in my file and read everything. I am not hiding anything from you anymore, and won't when you ask."

I looked at our hands together, "Over dinner, I want to hear all about your grandparents and how they raised you to be this incredible woman."

Bo smiled wide, nodding. When she went to walk away, to the bathroom, I held onto her hand, "Bo, for what it's worth, I do love you. Just as much as I did in that moment you had me pinned against that old squad car."

Bo blushed and held onto my fingers, "i know, it's just going to be slow this time around." I nodded, trying to smile, "Don't worry Lauren, it will come to both of us, even if I have to wait thirty years, I will. For you." she dropped her grip on my hand, walking to the bathroom as she picked up her clothes.

I let out a sigh as the door clicked close and the water turned on, I needed to get over whatever was holding me back with Bo and fast.


	5. Chapter 5

** Two updates in one day! uh oh...Anyways! here is some more past about bo, and of course the one thing you have been waiting for and the one thing these two do best, fight with each other and for each other...and the slow beginnings of the impending trouble for these two ladies. Enjoy! review and tell me what you think!**

The diner Bo took me to had a feel of the old south, a mom and pop run diner that was half full as the early dinner hour fell upon the city. We were on the edge of the capital, near where we did once live. I smiled as Virginia had two sides to it that was behind a curtain, one side was the bustling back and forth of the heartbeat of the country, and the other side was the rolling hills and quiet manners of the south. I looked out the side window as we sat in a booth, staring out into the hills that pushed up around the diner and the houses in the small suburb. Bo set the menu back in its spot as the waitress left with our order, "Kenzi and I came here every weekend during the academy, spend most of the day cramming for whatever test we had that week." Bo smiled, "This booth to be exact, I felt like I wore a hole in the seat from nerves." she pointed past me at a small bulletin board that held polaroid's of people, "Kenzi is up there, she won the cherry blossom festival pie eating contest. Took down fifteen pies, no one has yet to match or beat here."

I laughed as I turned and easily spotted Kenzi's picture hanging near the top, "That girl has a gastronomical gift." I turned back to Bo, picking up my cup of coffee, "I want to hit the country club first thing tomorrow, catch Exeter by surprise." I was suddenly consumed by my work brain, something had been lingering in the back of my mind about Exeter and I wanted to talk about it, I was slipping into my old detective habits, forgoing life for work.

Bo nodded as she played with a straw wrapper, "Who exactly is Exeter? I did not get a chance to look very far into his file."

"Exeter was apparently the lead detective on the case that kicked back Latham's report by the request of the brass upstairs. Latham suggested we talk to him and a Captain John Walker. I will need to find his file but I want to wait on that. I know digging in a Captains personnel file is going to start raising red flags. I would much rather sit and poke at a bitter old police officer than start a whirlwind of suspicion." I sipped at my coffee, "It's already suspicious that Latham told me Exeter was the lead detective on the case, and yet there is nothing in his file stating he had ever really transferred to the detective unit. I just have him working the road under Bellico until he was close to retirement."

Bo kept her eyes on me, "What else did Latham tell you while I was getting the lemonade?"

"I told you most of it in the car on the way back, this case stinks bad of a cover up. Latham is still bitter about it, and I am beginning to have a sinking feeling of what we may be getting into. Nothing is thicker than blue blood." I set my coffee down, running my finger around the edge, I knew that the further we dug, things could get sticky if this was a major cover up. Street cops could get vicious if they felt someone was digging too deep.

Bo sighed hard and sat back against the red vinyl booth, "Blue blood, the thin blue line, the brotherhood mentality of street cops, once a cop always a cop and you never betray another. They always say blood is thicker than water, well blue blood is the thickest and treading into that is definitely asking for some kind of trouble. I have run into the wall a few time when I was in Chicago PD, I had to prove my worth to the old boys over and over." Bo raised her eyebrows at me, "Should we just ignore this case then? I mean if you have a gut feeling that we are digging up something that was long and buried and some want to stay buried."

I shook my head, "No we have to find the truth, whether its big or small. We owe it to Angela and her parents to find out who did this. I hate breaking the blue line and pointing fingers at cops, but more than that I hate crooked cops who defeat the whole justice system they serve." I smiled at the waitress as she set my plate of eggs and pancakes down in front of me, "I feel that's where we failed with Ethan, no one wanted to own up to the truth about him when I was a kid and he slipped through the fingers of the justice system and scared cops." I spoke harder than I wanted and shook my head as I pushed a fork into the soft steamy pile of pancakes, "Sorry, I am still a little bitter. Exeter, there is something about him and his connection to Bellico that has me uneasy. There is no reason why he would keep kicking back a impeccable crime scene report."

Bo picked at her sandwich, "I had Bellico's file pulled, it should be at the hotel when we get back." she took a small bite of her sandwich. I picked up my coffee, "I want to get to him next, if possible, before we head home."

Bo nodded, "I can make that happen, I already called Metro and they are tracking down his current whereabouts, he retired last month and kind of disappeared."

I made a mental note, Bellico was slowly becoming my number one suspect to pick apart. I glanced at Bo as she worked on her sandwich, when she was in regular clothes, jeans and a tight shirt and the old beaten up leather jacket she adored, she looked so vulnerable. Not the tough, un-bendable federal agent.

I smiled, wanting to change the subject and the conversation, "Tell me how you met Kenzi, and how on earth did she become a FBI agent." Bo smiled wide, her dimple showing, "I kept running across her as a road patrol officer, small petty crimes, simple assault and battery. I could tell she was a smart girl, she had managed to talk many of my fellow officers out of pressing charges or ticketing her. I took her under my wing, forced her off the streets by always sneaking up on her right when she was about to rip someone off. In time I was able to get her to listen to me, and she became my roommate. Just showed up on my door step with all her stuff and moved in. When I applied to the agency, she did it on a whim and a recruiter came to the apartment. Extremely interested in her Russian language skills and they offered to ignore her petty criminal history, she has the IQ of a tiny genius, but far too lazy and hyper to properly apply it. We went to the academy together and graduated one and two in the class. She became my best friend, my sister and the only family I could really rely on."

Bo smiled as her face softened, "She saved me once, a story I never told anyone before." Bo paused as she set her sandwich down, she looked in my eyes, "It was when I was still on the streets in Chicago, I had a traffic stop go south." Bo paused, I could see the memory passing in her eyes, "The driver, a huge street thug connected to one of the south side gangs, who hated cops, charged me even before I got to the drivers door. I was knocked on my ass and he was using my face as a punching bag. Kenzi had been in the alley behind us, trying to sell some stolen cell phones when she heard me yelling." Bo smiled tightly, "The girl is like a spider monkey and saved my life, the thug is blind now, Kenzi sprayed at least three cans of pepper spray in his eyes until he collapsed to the ground like a baby."

I reached across the table and grabbed her hand, my jaw clenching as the anger slid slowly into my body, I had killed the last person who laid a harmful hand on her, I also vaguely remembered hearing Alex talk about helping out the traffic unit investigating a traffic stop that went wrong, a female officer caught by surprise. That female officer was sitting across from me, it made my heart tightened up as I vaguely remembered looking over the evidence photos taken of Bo at the hospital, I thought nothing of it, just saw bruises and bandages of assault case. It made me guilty for not caring just a bit more to actually look at the woman, and not at her as a case IA needed help on.

Bo kept smiling as she held onto my hand, "When my backup finally arrived, Kenzi told them I had brought the hug down. She has saved my life in more ways than one and I will always owe her, especially when she went to you after everything and told you what I was too scared too." Bo looked in my eyes, "That was when I decided to leave the streets to become an agent. I was tired of the streets and everything I saw on them. The hurt, the pain and the familiarity of the households I had to pull kids out of."

Bo smiled, running her thumb over my hand, "I have never told anyone that, Kenzi swore us both to secrecy on her own." she sighed, letting go of my hand, picking at her sandwich. I kept my hand on the table where her hand once was, "I was accepted to the academy two weeks before I got my detective test results back and was approved a transfer, to your unit." She pushed her plate away, "I wonder what would have happened if it was two weeks sooner." Bo smiled as she laid her hands in her lap, looking at me.

I smiled, "You would have hated me two weeks sooner." I nodded at her plate, "Finish your sandwich, you don't eat much anymore, I can tell. Your thinner."

Bo smirked, "Yes Doctor." she picked up a fry and nibbled on it, "Do you mind me asking, you think you will ever go back to medical school?"

I ate a few more bites of my pancakes, "In time, there is a lot of will I ever I have left to answer." I felt my phone vibrate, I pulled it out of my pocket and saw that Alex had texted me.

-Yo, Lauren. A weird package showed up at the door this afternoon, no return address. I took it to the lab boys to check it out, just in case. You want them to open it after they check it out? p.s. How's the hot agent and you doing? -

I sent him a quick text to go ahead and have the package opened up when it was cleared, so that whatever inside could be easily logged into evidence if needed. I also answered his question about Bo and I with one word. Slow. I set the phone down and pushed my plate away. Bo immediately picked up on my concern, "Who was that?"

"Alex, a suspicious package landed on my door step this afternoon. He took it to the lab and is having them check it out before opening." I was concerned, I had gotten random mail from creeps and true crime junkies in the days following the end of Ethan and Cameron. Most of the time I would bring the letters to the station and have the lab boys and the human resource department did what they did to scare off the weird pen pals I was accruing. I smiled, "Alex will take care of it, I trust him." I motioned to the waitress to bring the bill, "Lets go back to the hotel and look at that file."

Bo nodded in agreement as she took the bill from the waitress, smiling at me, "The agency is paying for this one." I sighed, "When will you let me pay on one of our dates?"

Bo raised an eyebrow, "I didn't know this was a date, if I had known I would have taken you somewhere better and made you pay."

I laughed lightly, "This was perfect, it's you. A part of the real you, and thank you for telling me more about you."

Bo set a few bills on the table, "Then can I take you on a real date, when we get home?" the look in her eyes echoed that off a girl asking her high school crush out on a first date. I smiled, standing up from the booth I held my hand out to her, "How about I just make you dinner one night, at my house." Bo smiled wide as she took my hand, letting me pull her gently up so we were inches away from each other. I had to take a slow breath, anytime this woman was inches away from me, I would lose more and more of my resolve. Bo looked at my lips, "As long as Alex stays far, far away from the house the entire night."

"I promise." I looked down at her hand in mine as I turned and walked with her out of the diner.

* * *

Back at the hotel, my bed was covered with Exeter file, I had pulled it apart into different sections for Bo and I too look at individually. Trying to find any more patterns or key points I could use in the interview. Bo was sifting through the thinner file of Bellico, which had us both concerned. Exeter's file was thick and filled at least three or four file folders, Bellico filled one.

"Lauren, the intern said this was all that was on file in our database and Metro's. I had him check three times, and this was all he could find." Bo handed me the thinner personnel file. I opened it up, looking at the cover sheet for Anthony Louis Bellico, fifty three years old and retired. I flipped through his school records, academy records and then there was a large gap. All that was in the file was his last ten years of service in Metro. He was a lateral transfer from an unknown police department and quickly made Sergeant. There were a few case reports that stood out as above and beyond, but the rest was vague and dribble. "Your guy said Bellico just retired?" I asked as I glossed over standard performance records.

"Yea, I guess a few months ago. Bellico just upped and disappeared a week after his retirement party, none of his friends in the department know where he headed too, nor do they remember him talking about some grand retirement plan." Bo flopped back on to her bed, rubbing at her eyes, "I read over that thing at least six times. Nothing stands out, Lauren."

"Everything about this file stands out, Bo." I sighed hard as I set it on my lap, "Bellico is the key here, I think. He is obviously hiding something, Hopefully I can pressure Exeter to spill a little." I tossed the file on my lap onto the floor with my briefcase, I leaned forward on my knees, "Nothing is ever easy." it came out quietly.

Bo propped herself up on her elbows, "Are you already frustrated? I never expected that from you at the start of a case."

I looked up at Bo, I was frustrated, I had lost some of my patience over the last few months as I pushed paper from one corner of my desk to the other. "I am not used to digging through the files of old lazy cops and coming up with nothing or sorting through piss poor attempts to hide secrets." I waved my hand at the files strewn around the room, "This is why I hate law enforcement at times, its a game of secrets and lies to some, while others suffer." I stood up quickly, my temper was coming to a point. I had dug through Exeter's file for the last few hours, he was just a lazy cop and semi dirty cop. Bellico was starting to point that way and I had a sinking feeling I would be pulling apart a cover up of a poor teenage girls death, an unnecessary one. I stepped over the files and walked to the window, staring out onto the capital city lights. I leaned against the cool glass of the window, trying to calm my frayed nerves. "Maybe I should have waited longer before jumping back into cases."

"You can quit anytime, Lauren." Bo's voice was soft as she said it, but it still caught and edge. I clenched my jaw and pressed my hands harder against the glass. I tried to control the tone in my voice, "I won't because I can't." I couldn't quit, this case reminded me too much of my own life, unanswered and messy. I felt like I had to solve it for Angela and for myself, that I could still do the job.

Bo's voice was closer, "You don't have to work this case, I probably pulled you in too soon." I felt her hand on the small of my back, I moved away from it. Pushing off the glass I kept my eyes on the capital building lit in the distance, "What else was I suppose to do. Continue to sit at a desk, stapling and collating papers?"

"Maybe, but I don't want you too jump back into the minds of evil if you aren't ready."

I turned quickly, staring at Bo, "I never was ready, not for someone like Ethan to set up shop in my mind and torture it." I looked in her eyes, I was angry and it was about to spill out of me, "All of it, I was never ready for, him, Cameron, you." I paused as I saw her flinch. She nodded and took a step back, "Bo, I didn't mean that like it sounds."

She shook her head, "No, I understand. I do. I understand that I am the one that has to pick up the pieces I broke out of you, I understand that you look at me and you don't see the same woman you met, that I am basically a stranger to you." she furrowed her brow as I could see her infamous temper rising, "This case is going to be dirty, I can already tell just as much as you can, we will be digging into the lives of monsters to find the truth. You don't have to stay on it, just because you feel like you need too or because I asked it of you." She looked away as her jaw continued to clench, "You make this very hard, Lauren." it came out as raspy whisper, as she turned away from me.

Her words hit me funny, spiking my temper again, "It's only hard because I don't know where my trust is, with you and within myself. You honestly expect me to run back to the way it was day one? Back to Bo Dennis the bumbling rookie? To a lie." My tone was harsher than I wanted it, but the words made their way out before I could stop.

Bo turned back towards me, her face gently flushed as I hit her button, "What do you want from me, Lauren? One minute you are so distant, playing the professional co-worker and the next moment you kiss me like I have never been kissed before, making my knees weak. This back and forth, it's just like it was in the beginning." she stepped closer to me and poked me in the chest, right over my heart, "Because you have tucked this away again, hiding it from me and any chance you might want to give me to fix this, fix us."

She looked me hard in the eyes, "I told you I would fight for you for as long as it takes, but I will not continue to endure cameo appearances of the ice queen when I have left the door wide open for you to know who I am, Bo McCorrigan, the dedicated agent and the woman who is still so stupidly in love with you that it's slowly destroying me." She dropped her hand from my chest, still flush and a firm tone in her voice, "Figure out what you want, I will be waiting."

I watched her for a minute as she angrily picked up files and started throwing them into her briefcase, one thing was clear, Bo would fight me kicking and screaming all the way, and second, I knew exactly what I wanted in that moment. I took the quick strides over to her, grabbing her elbow as she was in mid grab of a stack of files, I pulled her to face me, she looked up at me with sad, frustrated eyes, "Lauren...I am tired."

I said nothing as I moved both of my hands to her face, pulling her into a deep kiss. I knew exactly what I wanted, her. I felt her try and pull away, but I held her gently as my lips moved across hers. Bo moaned as she gave in, pressing closer against me. I was slowing destroying myself and her, because I did once again shove my heart away out of self preservation. But this woman, who's lips were the softest I had ever kissed, would fight day after day with me, next too me. I felt her hands slide up, laying flat on my back, I broke off the kiss. "You are the only thing I know I want, the rest, Fuck if I will ever figure it out."

Bo looked at me, as a tear escaped, "Then stop fighting me, I am not holding anything back from you." I brushed away the tear with my fingers, before I pulled away, Bo caught my hand. Kissing my fingers before looking up at me, she searched my eyes for any sign of me pulling away or stopping things as they started like I had in the last few times we were this close. I smiled lightly, giving her the cue she was waiting for. Bo closed the space between us, kissing me deep, her hands coming up to hold my face as she kissed me with determination and longing. She pressed her body against mine, pushing us to the edge of the bed, forcing me to fall back onto the files that still covered my bed. Bo looked over my shoulder, at the papers that were crumpling underneath me. She stood up, grabbing my arms, pulling me up, she then leaned over the bed and with one sweep of her arm she shoved all of the neat piles of paper I had set up, throwing to them the floor with a thud and a flutter as single pages fell to the floor.

Bo smirked as she stood in front of me again, pressing a soft kiss on my cheek, her hands moved to the edge of my shirt. She kissed the edge of my jaw as she pushed her hands up and under my shirt, making me gasp. I felt her smile against my ear as she whispered, "I feel you every time my heart beats."

I closed my eyes tight as her warm breath fluttered across my ear, mixing with her warms hand touching my very sensitive skin. I didn't want to wait, I moved back from her enough to pull off my shirt, no longer caring the scars my body held. I just wanted to feel her on me again. Bo ran her hand down the middle of my chest, making me shiver as she had earlier. She bent forward and kissed me softly, before kissing down my neck, to my shoulder and the scar there. She then pushed me gently back onto the bed, sliding up next to my body as she looked at me in the full light the hotel room offered. She laid soft kisses down the middle of my chest, stopping at the scar underneath my bra. The gunshot wound I received the day I thought I would never see her again. Her hands moved across my stomach as she bent to kiss the scar I carried the longest. It was intensely intimate, as I felt her soft lips pressing against the faded old scar. I closed my eyes, trying to hold back the tears I knew were threatening to spill, I had never let anyone that close to that part of me, until her.

Bo moved back up to kiss me on the lips as she hovered over me, stopping only long enough for me to reach up and tug at the edge of her shirt, I sat up enough to help her pull it off, allowing her fast access to removing my bra. I sighed hard at the first touch of her hand against my breast, it had been a long time since I saw her, or touched her. Felt her skin mold to mine. I sat up as Bo straddled me, pulling my face up to hers again as she kissed me harder, her tongue finding mine in a familiar dance. I moaned as both of her hands covered my breasts, forcing me to push harder into her. I moved quickly, rolling her underneath me as I propped myself up on my elbows, I took a moment to look in her eyes, I saw nothing but pure love for me, asking for forgiveness in a silent gaze amplified by the flush I was bringing up in her. I pushed some hair away from her face, my fingers dragging slowly down her cheek, "I love you...my heart is still yours, even when the ice queen shows up." Bo smiled and pressed her hand against my mouth, "We can talk later, no talking, only touching and kissing from this point on."

I could not help but smirk as I nodded and leaned forward to brush my lips against hers, pulling a moan from her as I pressed my hips against hers. Bo pushed up, wanting to increase the contact between us. I kissed her as I ran my hands down the soft skin I missed and dreamt about in between nightmares, I found the top of of her jeans and before I unbuttoned them, Bo arched up, grabbing my hands with her, helping me to pull her jeans off. I leaned against her as my hand ran up her thigh and to the one spot that made me groan as I felt how ready she was for my touch. I slid two fingers in easily, pausing as I heard Bo whimper lightly, the sound alone almost took me over the edge. I moved slowly as she matched my rhythm, our eyes locking as I pulled more moans from her, quickening my pace with every movement of her hips against my palm. When I could feel her on the edge, I pulled my hand back, making her shudder and shiver at the sudden loss of contact. I kissed her stomach as I moved myself down to settle between her legs, I kissed her thighs softly before I gave her what she wanted and needed. The first soft touch of my tongue, Bo pushed up and off the bed, pushing down, increasing the contact I had. I held her hips as she moved with me, when I slid my fingers back in her, I felt her clench around my fingers as she moaned my name in a desperate way that made me ache even more for her. When she finally came down from the waves that rolled through her body, Bo was breathless. I ran my hand over her goose bumped skin as I laid on top of her, pushing my thigh between her legs, pressing against a still sensitive area that made her writhe under me. Bo grabbed my face with her hands, holding me so she look in my eyes, and through short breaths, "You know how hard it was to wait eight months and not attack you that day Alex interrupted us." I nodded as I smiled, teasing her as I brushed my lips across her, biting gently, "We have some lost time to make up for." Bo smirked as I teased her again, raising her hips up pressing down against my thigh, it distracted me enough to let her push her hand into my jeans, taking her turn at taking my breath away, "We certainly do."

* * *

Three hours later, we both collapsed into a dreamless exhausted sleep. I only woke up because I heard the morning traffic start rolling outside the window. I looked around the room, the bed we were in looked like it had been through world war three, only leaving a sheet to cover us both up, and there were files and papers all over the room. I snuggled up into Bo, my head on her chest as I listened to her heart beat with the slow breaths as she still slept. I ran my hand across her stomach absently, never quite getting enough of the way her skin felt against my hand. I felt her sigh as my roaming hands woke her up, "This room is a disaster." Her voice was raspy and tired, I leaned up to look in her eyes, she smiled wide as she kissed me quickly, "I guess I could have used my bed instead of throwing papers around like a mad woman."

I laughed as I looked over my shoulder at the mess, "Why do we always fight before we sleep together?" Thinking back on the most memorable times in my house and other hotels.

Bo pushed some of my hair out of my face, "Because we are really, really, and I mean really good at the makeup sex." I sighed and leaned against her hand, "I am sorry."

Bo shook her head, cutting me off, "Never be sorry for what you feel." she placed her hand over my heart, "As long as you let me in here, there will never be anything you have to apologize for." I felt the tears rise as I looked into the brown eyes of the woman who could tear down all of my walls with one look and one simple touch, I would just have to keep letting her. We held each others stare until the hotel phone rang, Bo glanced at it, then back at me, "You think we were too loud? Last night?"

I shrugged as I reached across her, gently pressing my body against her as I reached for the phone, "Hello?"

"This is the concierge desk, we have a courier package down her for a Y. McCorrigan? It will be waiting down at the desk for you to pick up at your earliest convenience." I thanked the cheery voice and hung up, looking down at Bo who was still focused on my chest against hers, I smiled, "Eyes up here agent. You have a package downstairs." I smirked as Bo blushed lightly, "We should probably get up and get ready for Exeter."

Bo frowned, "Sometimes, particularly the times when you are naked with me, I really hate my job." I laughed as I kissed her forehead, moving away from her so I could get up. "We finish this interview and we can go home, to that dinner date you promised me." I carefully stepped over the files on the floor, walking to the bathroom, feeling Bo stare as I walked into the bathroom naked.

I walked out of the bathroom to see Bo picking up the mess we made, wearing an old Chicago PD shirt that barely covered the tiny underwear she had on, I smiled at the sight, "Go, take a shower I will clean this up."

Bo stood up, setting a small stack of paper on the bed, sighing hard, "Good thing you are so anal about sorting things, most of this mess is still organized into the piles." She turned and walked to me, her hands grabbing my waist, "I called the country club, Exeter is on in an hour. We can grab breakfast and head over." she kissed me quickly as she walked to the bathroom, I found myself staring as she bent over to grab her fresh change of clothes. I was about to throw my towel on the bed and follow her when I heard my cell phone ring. It was Alex.

I rolled my eyes as I answered it, watching Bo close the bathroom door, starting up the shower, "Alex, you know you have really bad timing."

"Sorry about that, um. That package I called you about yesterday?" His voice was firm and serious, I had only heard him like this twice before. "Alex are you okay?"

"Yea, I am fine, but um. The lab boys looked at the package and opened it this morning. This shit is fucked up Lauren. I sent you a picture, I think you need to come home as soon as possible."

I pulled the phone away, "Hang on." I found the picture message Alex had just sent, it was a picture of a plain brown shipping box, the lid was open and inside there was a photograph of a mouth making a shhh shape. On top of the picture was a dismembered hand, with the index finger positioned up with the rest of the fingers closed. Making a perfect morbid picture of someone shushing. I closed the picture and got back on with Alex, "What is that."

"The boys are running the fingerprints as soon as they are done processing the scene, so to speak. It was sent to you and they are trying to trace the package transit. But its hard with no return address." Alex paused, "There was a note." I heard the soft crinkle of a plastic evidence bag, "Stop asking questions you don't want to know the answer too. Shhhhhh." Alex paused, "What the fuck is going on."

I ran a hand through my damp hair, my eyes darting around the room, "If I could tell you I would, but I have a feeling that someone is already irritated I am poking in the past. Have them run the fingerprints and email me the results, call me if anything else comes up. Bo and I are just doing one quick interview and then we will be on our way back to Chicago. This package, do it like we always used too."

"Roger, Captain, full chain of command and for select ears only. I am on it." Alex took a breath, "Be careful, Lauren." he hung up quickly. I bit the inside of my mouth as I took another look at he photograph. It was apparent Bo and I were treading into treacherous territory.


End file.
